black absolute marble... how to polish?

[Paul Finn]

Hi, im in process of tiling a warm room for a client in black absolute marble but where the top tile meets the downward tile on the seating area ive been asked to bevel the raw corners and polish to make as shiney as the face surface.... ive done similar with travertine but never marble.... how would I go about rounding the raw edges and polishing and what tools/liquids would be best suited?

 

[cam_low]

ATS bullnose grinder attachment is your weapon of choice along with their makita polishing kit or just the graded pads if you already have an adjustable speed polisher.

 

[Paul Finn]

Cheers cam.... is it the same for black absolute granite? Only im been told its granite now?

 

[Concrete guy]

How thick are the tiles Paul and do you have a variable speed grinder or polisher?

The process of polishing granite and marble is same, but the pads used to polish them are different. How much you've got to do and if you'll use the products in the future will determine the best product to buy.

 

[Paul Finn]

How thick are the tiles Paul and do you have a variable speed grinder or polisher?

The process of polishing granite and marble is same, but the pads used to polish them are different. How much you've got to do and if you'll use the products in the future will determine the best product to buy.

Hi. The tiles are ranging from 15 to 22mm in thickness and I do not have a variable speed grinder. Is it important that I have a variable speed? And what grade pads would you suggest? I probably wont use to much again in the future but I suppose its always handy to have the tools at the ready if needed.

 

[Concrete guy]

Is a variable speed machine important - in a word, yes.

If it's not something you're likely to use in the future, then borrow or hire one. We do sell a good Makita machine for sensible money if it's something you decide you might find useful.

Read this thread about polishing, it will answer a few of the common questions, then I'll answer any specifics you may have.

http://www.tilersforums.com/tiling-tools/70934-wet-polishing-vs-dry-polishing-diamond.html

If you want a chat, feel free to call, just click on my username I'm easy to find.

Alan.

 

[Paul Finn]

Is a variable speed machine important - in a word, yes.

If it's not something you're likely to use in the future, then borrow or hire one. We do sell a good Makita machine for sensible money if it's something you decide you might find useful.

Read this thread about polishing, it will answer a few of the common questions, then I'll answer any specifics you may have.

http://www.tilersforums.com/tiling-tools/70934-wet-polishing-vs-dry-polishing-diamond.html

If you want a chat, feel free to call, just click on my username I'm easy to find.

Alan.

Thanks Alan, appreciated. Ill have a read now and get back to you.

Paul

 

[Paul Finn]

Hi Alan....great post, answered a lot of questions. Im in Abu Dhabi at the min so cant call you but im in desperate need of a way to polish the raw edges of this granite for client
Couple of questions. Is it essential to have a waterfed variable speed grinder? Or will a cheep v/s grinder and a water spray bottle suffice? As it is only the edges of seating and a heated table that need to be polished? Also what grade pads and process (grades and speeds) would you reccomend at each polishing stage? And lastly if you supply materials could you email me prices of what i would need? and would it be possable to send via courier to Abu Dhabi if I pay by card? Thanks

 

[Concrete guy]

How much do you need to polish? 5 linear metres, 50 linear metres?

Theres no need for wet if you want to go dry, but give me an idea of volume and we'll get the right idea first.

We can send anywhere in the world, we have regular customers in mainland Europe, Malta and a few scattered worldwide.

 

[Paul Finn]

Off the top of my head id say approx 40 to 50 linear meters of 20mm thick edges. Id prefere to wet polish though due to the mirror finish on the granite face

 

[Stef]

Paul, I bought a dry Makita polisher off Alan a few weeks ago, great piece of kit.
This was me having a 5 mins monkey about in my garage with a quarry tile to see if I could bullnose the edge.

It's hard to make out in the photos, I have polished the edge up too much but this is what's achievable with a polishing machine.
Hope this kind of gives you an idea.

 

[Ian]

Paul, I bought a dry Makita polisher off Alan a few weeks ago, great piece of kit.
This was me having a 5 mins monkey about in my garage with a quarry tile to see if I could bullnose the edge.

It's hard to make out in the photos, I have polished the edge up too much but this is what's achievable with a polishing machine.
Hope this kind of gives you an idea.

That's a fancy garage Stef, my kitchen isn't that nice

 

[Concrete guy]

Absolute Black granite is about as hard as stone gets. It's so popular because you can get the mirror finish on the surface.

We have customers that polish exclusively wet, some that polish exclusively dry and others that do a bit of both.

With the right pads and machinery you could do either and produce a very nice finish, however at that volume you'll need a centre feed wet polisher to stop the pads overheating.

You can use a dry machine with a hose running across the work for a job like polishing a concrete worktop, or even surface polishing black granite. The problem with a 20mm thick edge is there's no where for water to pool or sit, so it will be constant battle stopping your wet pads burning out.

You need some high quality dry diamond pads,the extra you'll spend on the pads will be saved not having to buy a wet machine. That's probably even more relevant if you want to put a profile on the stone and not simply polish it square.

So your options are:-

1. Wet centre feed polisher - wet diamond pads

2. Dry polisher - dry diamond pads.

This is one of those situations where a compromise of dry machine with a spray of water is practical because it's all edge work and it's a reasonable volume of edge work.

 

[Paul Finn]

Paul, I bought a dry Makita polisher off Alan a few weeks ago, great piece of kit.
This was me having a 5 mins monkey about in my garage with a quarry tile to see if I could bullnose the edge.

It's hard to make out in the photos, I have polished the edge up too much but this is what's achievable with a polishing machine.
Hope this kind of gives you an idea.[/QUOTE

Thats a nice finish. Well done, Its just what I need, but for the sake of 50 linear mtr its a big outlay.... plus im in the middle east so not sure where my nearest speedy hire is lol.

 

[Stef]

Thats a nice finish. Well done, Its just what I need, but for the sake of 50 linear mtr its a big outlay.... plus im in the middle east so not sure where my nearest speedy hire is lol.[/QUOTE]

You might be surprised as the kits not overly expensive.

 

[Concrete guy]

Thats a nice finish. Well done, Its just what I need, but for the sake of 50 linear mtr its a big outlay.... plus im in the middle east so not sure where my nearest speedy hire is lol.

If you can beg, borrow or rent a machine, we can get consumables across relatively easily.

Getting a machine over would be the expensive bit.

In the middle east I have a feeling they may be using American Spec machinery, so it's worth asking what the thread on the machine spindle is. It will be one of two:

M14 = European
5/8-11" = American

 

[Concrete guy]

You might be surprised as the kits not overly expensive.

Getting it to Abu Dahbi would be though..:yikes:

Even then I'm not sure if there would be a voltage incompatibility.

So get the machinery locally and then the consumables are easy (and lightweight) to ship.

 

[Stef]

Trying for "Commission" here Alan..
I never even thought about voltage..
Electrics electric up here in sunny Ayrshire.

 

[Paul Finn]

110v on site via uk 3 pin 240v

 

[Concrete guy]

110v on site via uk 3 pin 240v

That's unexpected. You could just use a UK machine.

 

[Paul Finn]

Surprised myself Alan, id packed all my travel adapters just to find out its the same as UK lol