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Cutting retaining wall block for garden planter corner?

larboc

larboc

Limestone cowboy
Joined
May 19, 2020
Member Number
237
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822
Loc
Da yoop
K, putting in a small raised garden bed for the misses and I can't figure put the correct way to cut this block for the corners. I cut one piece to make a corner, kinda, but it doesn't seem right. Suggestions? I'm scoring with a diamond blade, the cracking with a chisel, no issue there, its the shape I don't understand. The block plant I bought it from doesn't make corner blocks anymore and just told me its easy cut it, there may have been instructions but I figured I knew it all and didn't listen.
20230527_200558.jpg
 
larboc said:
lol, its the hammer that came with an old flooring nailer I had. Nailer is junk, but I wind up using the hammer constantly.
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Was gonna say the old man that did my wood floor used a hammer like that to set the planks and hit the nailer.
 
Lilyota said:
It just cut all the ears off and call it a day
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Any exposed surface needs to be scored and cracked so that it matches.
This is kind of the idea:
In my case however, the blocks are solid so I have more options for how I cut it. The part I'm struggling with is that if I make a cut on the short side to make it look right, by the time I square it up it's no longer a full length block so I can't really do a 50% stagger.
 
larboc said:
Any exposed surface needs to be scored and cracked so that it matches.
This is kind of the idea:
In my case however, the blocks are solid so I have more options for how I cut it. The part I'm struggling with is that if I make on the short side to make it look right, it's no longer a full length block so I can't really do a 50% stagger.
Click to expand...
Ya.


Cut all the ears off and lay some block.

Stop over complicating it:laughing:


You aren't gonna pull a PAE here are ya?
 
I had the same problem once. The only thing I could figure out to do was to cut two of them to make a corner, I cut 'em to size and glued them together. Once the glue set up and they weren't coming apart I used my finger to push a little mortar into the line where I glued them. Nobody could see what I had done but I could because I knew where to look. I guess if nobody else could see it I did a good job.:homer:
 
Southernfriedcj8 said:
Miter them.
Stagger the miters from row to row.
Start with 45's. Next row use a 60/30, the row after that a 30/60, then back to 45/45.

You can overlap them to mark them if you have to.
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Mitering 45s sounds like a bit of work however because I wouldn't want to split them at the 45 since the mitered edges are going to be against each other. I'd need to cut all the way through. Doable, but I think I'd rather just do a 1/3 overlap instead of 1/2.
 
rockmup said:
They don't make corner blocks for that ?

EDIT: Your link shows one
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These are made locally, that link showed the closest example I could find. And like I said in the OP, they no longer make corner blocks because nobody bought them.
 
larboc said:
These are made locally, that link showed the closest example I could find. And like I said in the OP, they no longer make corner blocks because nobody bought them.
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Whoosh, right over my head, thats as good as its going to get. I'd drill the first block and pin it in place
block.jpeg
 
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larboc said:
These are made locally, that link showed the closest example I could find. And like I said in the OP, they no longer make corner blocks because nobody bought them.
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See if they still have the forms? Rent it from them.
 
larboc said:
Mitering 45s sounds like a bit of work however because I wouldn't want to split them at the 45 since the mitered edges are going to be against each other. I'd need to cut all the way through. Doable, but I think I'd rather just do a 1/3 overlap instead of 1/2.
Click to expand...
diamond blade cuts pavers really fast and easy
water kinda slows it down a bit, if you've got a good wind you can cut them dry

What are you using, skilsaw, angle grinder or maniac saw?

ETA: cut them at like 40 degrees instead of 45 so the rough faces of the cut ends don't touch but for right at the face that shows outside
 
Why not cut with a saw? Then you could split two blocks to have a rough side on each exposed side.
 
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