Uses for big piece of granite

[Mark Ashmeade]

Went to an Estate Sale today, and picked up a few items, but out in the yard was a big piece of granite. Long story short, I've got a slab that's 39 x 63" in my truck. Nicely polished on one side, a reddish grey colour, edges are a bit ragged although squarish.

I was thinking of using it for an assembly/outfeed table. The miter slots might be a bit difficult to cut for an outfeed table though. It seems I can use a circular saw with diamond blade to straighten up the edges, then band it with some maple maybe.

However, is there anything else I might look to use such a slab for? Perhaps a router table in the end?

I'm thinking of a plywood or MDF torsion box as an underframe for the slab.

Any other suggestions?

[Kent A Bathurst]

...........Here Lies Mark Ashmeade..........................
He Never Could Figure Out What To Do With This Slab
.....................R.I.P........................ ...................

[Stephen Cherry]

how about a Minibar.

[Jim Rimmer]

One that long you could make a flattening station on one end with sandpaper stuck to it - nice and flat. Outfeed/assembly would work, too, if you can figure out how to cut the miter slots. Maybe a granite place can do it for cheap.

[phil harold]

One that long you could make a flattening station on one end with sandpaper stuck to it - nice and flat.

thats what I use mine for

[Neil Brooks]

Mine's still in the garage. They made our kitchen island wrong, and left us the first piece, after they replaced it.

My thought was ... it's so darned close to dead flat ... I'd make it into some sort of permanent sharpening station ... kind of as mentioned above. Build a cabinet base for it. Mount a good light over it. Put the stones, the Veritas sharpening jig, and the bench grinder on it, and ... done.

Whatever you do ... post pics, and if you DO make a shop bar (different from a house bar), have us all over for drinks

[Mark Ashmeade]

Already got a bar, was thinking of a shop use.

[Ted Calver]

I use mine as an assembly table. It's flat and solid as a rock . Someday I'll build some legs and an apron and make a nice table. Heavy sucker though. (about 40"x 40" x 1-1/4")

[Thomas Canfield]

You could sure make a lot of peanut brittle to pour out on that slab.

[Mark Ashmeade]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm hopefully a few decades from the grave, so I'll skip that one!

For those recommending a sharpening station, surely I'd need a piece maybe 1' x 2' for that? Or am I missing something?

I'm happy to cut a piece off the long end for that, but I'm seeing value in a big flat table.

It was only $25, so I'm happy to invest in it. I think I'll post on CL for a granite guy to cut the miter slots, maybe a router opening.

[keith micinski]

This winter I am going to be buying a large piece from somewhere so I can make an out feed slash assembly table. I always see all of these different torsion box tops and what not and it seems like the flattest, easiest to make, (because it's already made), easy to keep clean, and a nice solid work piece would be a granite top.

[Peter Aeschliman]

This is probably very obvious, but whatever you do, make sure it actually is flat before committing to something that requires flatness. I snagged some left over granite from my parents' kitchen remodel, planning to use it for a sandpaper sharpening station. Put my straightedge on it and it was nowhere close to flat...

That was after I bought a diamond blade for my circular saw and cut it into pieces... Whoops!

btw, the diamond blade/circular saw combo works really well. Just do it outside with a dust mask- it's super messy.

[Jim O'Dell]

+1 on getting a granite counter top guy to do the miter slots and/or router plate insert, and on checking the flatness before doing anything. How much does that puppy weigh? Bet it's not light by any stretch of the imagination. If it was mine, it would be a router table top. It's only about 10" longer than my current top. Jim.

[David Giles]

Left over piece from our kitchen remodel. Assembly table that stores outdoors to save shop space.
assemblytable.jpg

[Mark Ashmeade]

David, good job! I think mine will be higher than that, so it can be an outfeed table and router table in one.

Jim - I'm guessing about 300 pounds. Or in English, ****ing heavy!