How can I safely cut cultured countertops containing silica?

Question

I was not aware until recently that dust from concrete and from countertops is almost insanely dangerous (silica..)

When trying to make a cut in a cultured quartz countertop I was shocked by how virulent the dust is. I was wearing two N95 masks and outside but a tiny bit of the dust from a few seconds of grinding (router) really bothered me.

Presently I am at a loss as to how to cut this stuff. Depositing the dust in my garage or on my driveway or anywhere is just not a great idea: it blows around. Do I put together some kind of hermetically sealed area in the garage maybe? I do have a ventilator (as well as a respirator). Is there any way to work with this stuff outside of a professional fabrication facility?

The tools I've tried (and all make prolific dust)

• cutoff wheel with diamond blade
• circular saw with diamond blade
• wet saw with diamond blade
• router with carbide bit

I do run a vacuum and ventilator at the same time. But it's not enough. Any tips on this? At this point I have forfeited on the concept of cutting out the sinks. I just want to make one lateral straight cut of 24 inches and be done.

Answer 1

Those type of countertops are routinely cut with wet saws. The operator should also have eye, ear, breathing and skin protection.

A proper amount of water should result in a mud and not dust. The mud can be cleaned up and disposed of in the same manner as any other harmful waste. ( Think of pet waste.)

Silica is dangerous if exposed in large amount or over long term. Wearing the proper protection should make you safe, or you can hire someone to cut the top for you.

Answer 2

My actual process. I did make the cuts in this super tough material. I staked out an enclosed area that would not send dust everywhere and did the following:

• [Mostly] Enclosed the cutting area (beneath my arms) with a clear plastic painting drop cloth . So there was plastic [as well as the masks] between my lungs and the lion's share of the dust.

• Set up powerful shop vac inside that enclosed area inches from the circular saw

• Since it was a standard circular saw [and not my wet saw] I doused the cutting area with water and regularly added more to the cut as I went. I've done this in the past for cutting concrete. It's bit messy but setting up the wet saw takes more time [and it's a 14 inch blade so it's pretty unwieldy for anything but heavy concrete cutting]

• Set up a ventilator (the red-orange serpent thing). I've had this for years. It comes out of storage every now and again and I'm glad to have it in those moments

• Set up two high speed fans to blow air from the main room into that area

• I donned four masks: a kn95 and then three N95's. If nothing else the restricted breathing reminds me not to spend too much time in there [*]!

The cuts did come out fine. They were just straight cuts so the only thing needed was for the guards not to slip and to keep a steady hand on the circular saw (while adding water and adjusting the vacuum hose). I ducked out to get fresh air a number of times. And had to flip the circuit breaker three times since the diamond blade was just barely enough to work through this "nearly hard as granite" material.

In the end the cuts were done and safely. But that was quite an effort at setup. I think the most transferable learning here were the use of the plastic dropcloth to nearly seal the dusted area. I don't expect to typically have the luxury of a ventilator or two high speed fans.