Hot-Glue Template Strips to Cut Flagstone Right the First Time
The Problem
Fitting a big piece of flagstone into an irregular opening — against neighboring stones, a wall, a curve — is miserable by measurement. The shape has too many reference points to capture with a tape, the stone is too heavy to keep test-fitting, and every wrong cut on a feature piece is expensive and permanent.
The Technique
Template strips, the same trick cabinet installers use to capture a countertop shape, work just as well outdoors on stone.
- Cut strips about 3 inches wide from a dimensionally stable sheet material — foam board and corrugated plastic both work.
- Lay the strips around the perimeter of the opening the stone has to fill, following every edge and angle, and hot-glue them to each other where they overlap. In a few minutes you have a rigid, exact copy of the shape.
- Lift the assembled template out and set it on top of the stone you're cutting.
- Mark or cut along the template's edges.
- Carry the cut piece over and slide it into place — it fits the first time.
Pro tip: The strips only work because they don't flex or shrink — that's why foam board and corrugated plastic beat cardboard, which bows and takes on moisture. Glue every overlap, not just a few; a template that racks on the way to the saw lies to you.
Safety note: Cutting stone throws crystalline silica dust, which does permanent lung damage. Cut wet or use dust extraction, wear a properly fitted respirator (not a dust mask), and add eye and hearing protection — a grinder in stone is loud and throws chips.