Lava Rock & Wet Saws

[7Shadows]

Has anyone here cut up the lava rocks they've found on their own property yet? I was wondering if they slice like butter or are they a bit hard to chew through with a tile saw? Was looking into the idea of cutting some up and using them for pavers.

[Seeb]

You would need a big stone saw. Mega Bucks!

[7Shadows]

Small brick sized pavers

[Rob Tucker]

Lava will cut easily. Perhaps too easily. Wear safety glasses. Don't be surprised if parts break off.

[csgray]

Someone posted about making bricks for a pizza oven from lava, the curbstones in older parts of Hilo are cut lava stone, and they probably weren't made with a power saw.

Carol

[Carey]

Have used my trusty HD wet saw cutting some lava slabs, but they were neither thick, nor that big, less than 18" prior to cutting... but it also depends on the stone picked.... the more frothy pumice stone would seem to be harder to cut with out crumbling, the pieces I cut were more like blue rock & more like thick porcelain/granite to cut (which I prefer...as you get a nice ,solid, smooth cut...

I always wear face protection & really needed the gloves for the lava rock, as the slab edges were sharp

Have also seen guys carving pounders & such from lava stones using a grinder....again, it depends on the rock you start with... but the pounders came out looking really nice

[7Shadows]

Thanks guys, and to add I don't even trust goggles, I use a face shield when doing metal grinding or tile cutting ect ect.... I've just never cut lava rock before so wondered how other peoples experiences were when working with it. I've planned to make a few gazebos and thought the pavers would be a nice cheaper alternative to pouring concrete. I won't be having cars drive over them although I think if they were thick enough and the base was packed well a car should be able to drive on them too. Thanks for all the quick responses so far. Been a lurker here for awhile and decided to finally make an account so I could post.