>>2943988
Clarify what you mean by cutting into straight surface blocks.

>on the topic of stone types
With igneous material, stuff that has melted and stirred under pressure before reforming - you will have an easier time gauging it's strength.

With limestone, which is typically considered a sedimentary stone (layers of stuff not melted, but pressed into itself and turned hard by time and pressure) - you will find large voids of weaker and stronger bonds or various mineral soups pooled together, these are the weak points. You will also find empty voids in the material, large and small - where even if the solid parts are very hard and durable, the large voids write it off as a stable material (travertine is a good example).

The above isn't always true of course, indiana limestone, which is used all over for structures, is very strong and very consistent compared to other families of limestone.

ultimately, its going to come down to a case by case basis when dealing with most limestone and marble, where granite is typically reliably strong.

>on why things turn to swiss cheese
If you have a porous material and it's subjected to freeze thaw, its going to shatter, water trumps all. Limestone will flake, slate will separate, marble will efflorece (is that a word?) and spald, granite will crack etc. etc. If you are exposing it to acids, acid rain etc, steer clear of the limestone and marble families.