Are you Polishing Granite Edges with less effort?
Sam, a good friend of ours and a very good customer, after working several years in the Granite Industry, decided to start his own Granite Shop a couple of years ago. We have been guiding Sam, through our experience in the Granite Fabrication Industry, to make his business more profitable, and thus allowing Sam to expand it.
We decided to share some of the guidance we provided him through a series of articles, covering the whole Fabrication process, from the Templating to Installation. We have already covered the Handling of Slab Stones, the Cutting Process, and the Edge Profile Fabrication. Sam approached us, asking:
I understand that for Polishing Granite Edges, a Wet approach is better, am I right? And, with so many Polishing Pads out there, how should I choose one?[/box_section]
In effect, doing Wet Polishing has many advantages. It should be the preferred way for Polishing Granite Edges. However, there are times when a Wet environment cannot be created. That’s when you need to do Dry Polishing.
For example, when you need to finish Polishing at the customer’s place.
For now, let’s focus on Polishing Granite Edges…
Choosing the right Tool for Polishing Granite Edges
When you are Polishing Granite Edges, the first thing you must have into account is the Tool you are going to use for doing the Polish. Let’s concentrate on Wet Polishing, the most common and most appropriate method.
The choosing of these tools must be based on the fact if you have an Air Compressor in your Shop or not. In case you do, you should use an Air Polisher or Pneumatic Wet Tool Machine for doing the job.
Here, we could recommend the Stone Pneumatic Wet Air Polisher, which has proven to be a very reliable Machine, with a very lightweight and very compact. Capable to work at a maximum of 4,500 RPM, it comes with a reversible side handle, exhaust muffler, air hose adaptor, and water valve with hose adapter.
FABRICATOR TIP: The advantages of having an Air Compressor in your Granite Shop are plenty, not only for Polishing Granite Edges but for much other Granite Fabrication processes. So, if you don’t have one yet, you should consider getting one right away.
In case you don’t have an air compressor, for Polishing Granite Edges, you should use an Electric Wet Polisher, like the Makita Wet Polisher shown here.
It has been the choice of many of our customers, and we’ve got no complaints about it. This is a Variable Speed Machine, with electronic speed control, which maintains constant speed under load.
Choosing a Backer Pad
Polishing Granite Edges as such, consist of the application of a group of Polishing Pads from different Grits to the Edges created in the previous step, according to the chosen Profile.
For plugging these Pads into the selected Machine -no matter if it is pneumatic or electric-, a Backer Pad is needed. There are plenty of choices, and it is more a matter of tastes and the way you work. In a future article, we’ll write about the differences among them.
For now, you can see here the finest selection of our Catalog. We’ve tested all these Backer Pads, and we guarantee they are all of very good quality.
Selecting Pads for Polishing Granite Edges
Now, with the right Machine and the right Backer Pad selected, you need to choose the Polishing Pads you are going to use for Polishing Granite Edges.
As with the Backer Pads, there are many different kinds of Polishing Pads. Usually, they are chosen by taste, depending on several factors, as how rough are your edges, the kind of Stone, and the experience of the Polisher.
If we are going to talk about a standard -which is more an average, I’d say- the Polishing occurs after applying to the Edges, one after another, Pads with the following Grits:
- Grit 100
- Grit 200
- Grit 400
- Grit 800
- Grit 1,500
- Grit 3,000
- Black Buff (Dark Stones) or White Buff (Clear Stones) when it’s necessary
after applying them, the Edge should be Polished (see the video at the beginning of this article).
Here, we could recommend the Hurricane Wet Polishing Disks WE Series, shown here, which are excellent quality and have proven to be the first choice of many Fabricators. But, as I mentioned before, there are plenty of choices and Systems, depending on what you want to achieve.
Dry Polishing Granite Edges
As stated before, there are many advantages of Polishing in Wet environments, but in the case you need to Dry Polishing Granite Edges, here are our recommendations.
The Machine that should be used for Dry Polishing Granite Edges is the Makita Angle Grinder 9564CV, which is a High Powered Angle Grinder. It will function not only for Polishing, as there are many other applications during the Granite Fabrication process where it will prove very useful and reliable. Equipped with a powerful 12.0 AMP motor, it delivers more output and 10,500 RPM for the most demanding applications. It is a very versatile and reliable machine and the first choice for many of our customers. It can be used with the same Backer Pads presented during the Wet Polishing Granite Edges discussion.
With respect to the Polishing Pads that should be used, there are plenty of options, like the one shown here. Take into account that some of the Polishing Pads are designed for being used in both Dry and Wet environments, even though this is not the common case.
With this, I finish this article about Polishing Granite Edges. I hope it has been helpful to you.
I hope you enjoyed this article about Polishing Granite Edges. Now, it is time to read your comments.
We invite you to express your opinion and let us know what practices you use for polishing Granite Edges, which tools do you prefer, and if you dare, share your best secrets tips. We are sure it will help the entire community.