Hand polishing mitred edges-Travertine

[Miles]

Hi, I have cut my mitred edges of some fairly brittle travertine and I'm not happy with the finish so I have not fixed them yet and thought I would see if any of you guys can offer any advice? The ones with actual chunks off have been recut but there is still a roughness to them as obviously its a brittle tile being cut to a very thin finish. I want to give the customer a close to perfect finish as I can. I'm thinking a fine sand paper used by hand? Any better suggestions? Anything I try will be done by hand.

 

[Kyle Knowles]

The trick to miter is staying back just a fraction from the factory edge or at least a straight cut edge don't try to cut a miter as if it was wood

 

[Miles]

The ones I have done with the cuts where I am cutting in the middle of the tile are only marginally better. I am after a decent way of smoothing down the edges by hand before fixing and grouting. If I am honest I'm not even sure there is a way which is why I mentioned using a fine sand paper. Any ideas?

 

[J Sid]

rap some paper round a block if you haven't a variable speed.grinder.
Start with a medium grit
paper work your way down.
You would have been better to ask advice on how to do external corners first.

 

[Miles]

Thanks, customer specified mitred corners. Out of curiosity what is best way of doing external corners??

 

[Flintstone]

Round off one corner and polish it, then butt the other tile up to it

 

[Old Mod]

Cut your tile to desired length with a straight cut, then cut your 45o, but leave 2mm on the leading edge, as diagram.
Then you can use something like Sait carborundum pads to hand finish before you bring the pieces together.
It will then create a 'birds beak' a V shape if you will.
This gives you a good joint to grout, and it will give it some strength.



You can get Sait pads from ATS
SAIT Plain Silicon Carbide Discs 125mm | ATS Diamond Tools - http://www.atsdiamondtools.co.uk/node/56

 

[Flintstone]

If your going to do that sort of mitre, and grout the v area, is there any need to hand finish anything as there will be a grouted corner so no unfinished tile visable

 

[Old Mod]

It'll depend on the stone really Andy, and how well it comes finished.
Doesn't hurt to run an abrasive paper over the finished corner to take any sharp edges off.

 

[Concrete guy]

If it's only a few edges you need to do a few sheets of wet and dry at different grits would probably do what you need. There's no need to buy a load of Silicon Carbide discs for a one off, it's worth buying them though if it's a reasonably regular thing.

I was never keen on mitres on travertine due to it's brittle nature. I always preferred to overlap the edge and square polish with maybe a micro bevel. It effectively gives the same end appearance and is more resilient to knocks.

 

[Kyle Knowles]

Cut your tile to desired length with a straight cut, then cut your 45o, but leave 2mm on the leading edge, as diagram.
Then you can use something like Sait carborundum pads to hand finish before you bring the pieces together.
It will then create a 'birds beak' a V shape if you will.
This gives you a good joint to grout, and it will give it some strength.

View attachment 86529

You can get Sait pads from ATS
SAIT Plain Silicon Carbide Discs 125mm | ATS Diamond Tools - http://www.atsdiamondtools.co.uk/node/56

That is exactly what I was getting at

 

[Kyle Knowles]

If it's only a few edges you need to do a few sheets of wet and dry at different grits would probably do what you need. There's no need to buy a load of Silicon Carbide discs for a one off, it's worth buying them though if it's a reasonably regular thing.

I was never keen on mitres on travertine due to it's brittle nature. I always preferred to overlap the edge and square polish with maybe a micro bevel. It effectively gives the same end appearance and is more resilient to knocks.

 

[Kyle Knowles]

Cut your tile to desired length with a straight cut, then cut your 45o, but leave 2mm on the leading edge, as diagram.
Then you can use something like Sait carborundum pads to hand finish before you bring the pieces together.
It will then create a 'birds beak' a V shape if you will.
This gives you a good joint to grout, and it will give it some strength.

View attachment 86529

You can get Sait pads from ATS
SAIT Plain Silicon Carbide Discs 125mm | ATS Diamond Tools - http://www.atsdiamondtools.co.uk/node/56

 

[Flintstone]

I'm not feeling that last one Kyle at all.

 

[Flintstone]

are the carbide disks available Velcro backed?

 

[Kyle Knowles]

I'm not feeling that last one Kyle at all.

Personally I would of had a 30mm thick top on that but.... customers

 

[Old Mod]

are the carbide disks available Velcro backed?

Yes mate

 

[Concrete guy]

are the carbide disks available Velcro backed?

Velour backed is what you're after, they then stick to a velcro backer.

 

[Miles]

Thanks for all replys its given some food for thought. The mitres aren't that bad but there not perfect as to why I want to try and neaten them up a little before fixing. Grout will fill most of it but theres a big difference between 99 and 100%

 

[Tctile2933]

Cut your tile to desired length with a straight cut, then cut your 45o, but leave 2mm on the leading edge, as diagram.
Then you can use something like Sait carborundum pads to hand finish before you bring the pieces together.
It will then create a 'birds beak' a V shape if you will.
This gives you a good joint to grout, and it will give it some strength.

View attachment 86529

You can get Sait pads from ATS
SAIT Plain Silicon Carbide Discs 125mm | ATS Diamond Tools - http://www.atsdiamondtools.co.uk/node/56

This diagram is exactly what I needed. I want to thank you for sharing this. This has saved me much grief and stress.

 

[hk940]

Hi, I have cut my mitred edges of some fairly brittle travertine and I'm not happy with the finish so I have not fixed them yet and thought I would see if any of you guys can offer any advice? The ones with actual chunks off have been recut but there is still a roughness to them as obviously its a brittle tile being cut to a very thin finish. I want to give the customer a close to perfect finish as I can. I'm thinking a fine sand paper used by hand? Any better suggestions? Anything I try will be done by hand.

I would suggest using diamond pads instead of sandpaper, sand paper might do the job depending how hard the travertine is.
If you can buy from Amazon, go there and do search for diamond pads. You can get a set of 6-8 grits for a reasonable price, This one is $23.00 https://www.amazon.com/Diamond-Poli...jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

 

[Larry o Neill]

Hi, I have cut my mitred edges of some fairly brittle travertine and I'm not happy with the finish so I have not fixed them yet and thought I would see if any of you guys can offer any advice? The ones with actual chunks off have been recut but there is still a roughness to them as obviously its a brittle tile being cut to a very thin finish. I want to give the customer a close to perfect finish as I can. I'm thinking a fine sand paper used by hand? Any better suggestions? Anything I try will be done by hand.

Thanks, customer specified mitred corners. Out of curiosity what is best way of doing external corners??

 

[CJ]

Why not resin instead of grout, then polish it 🤔

 

[Lou]

Don't mind me while I bump up some older but good threads. If you can contribute to the thread, go ahead. But if it's nothing for you then don't reply and it'll soon drop off the What's New page etc.
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