Replies

1. 
   BobKovacs | Nov 30, 2005 02:28am | #1

   Sure....the old "it's for a friend" bit....

   Tell the truth- you put some kickin' new granite c-tops in the trailer, and you want them to keep that "good as new luster"- we won't tell the revenuers......lol.

   Bob

1. 
   Luka | Nov 30, 2005 02:51am | #2

   ROFLOLI shoulda seen that coming.=0)The clutch is completely gone on my truck. I had to ask for a ride to town today for a very important meeting.The friend who gave me the ride has a countertop that needs to be polished. He is moving, and selling the house. He asked me what to use, and I didn't have the answer. I showed him some jeweler's rouge, but I really didn't think it was a good idea to use that.
   America is a country which produces citizens who will cross the ocean to fight for democracy but won't cross the street to vote.

1. 
   Kowboy | Nov 30, 2005 02:53am | #3

   Try:

   http://www.huligar.com/forum/index.php

1. 
   Luka | Nov 30, 2005 03:20am | #4

   Thank you.I spent 20 minutes surfing around there. All I found was come-ons to register so that I could find The "real answers"...If there's something real there, please give me a hint where to look for it ??=0)
   America is a country which produces citizens who will cross the ocean to fight for democracy but won't cross the street to vote.

1. 
   Kowboy | Nov 30, 2005 07:59pm | #11

   Try:

   http://www.stoneadvice.com/gallery/album04/IMG_0125

    

    

2. 
   Luka | Nov 30, 2005 11:09pm | #12

   Thank you !!Lots of info there.Now I'll have to spend a bunch of time googling on product names, and such. LOLAlso, there was enough info there that it may just convince him to have someone else come in and polish it.I can't go do the work for him. But I am sure there are shops near where he is, that can send someone out.
   America is a country which produces citizens who will cross the ocean to fight for democracy but won't cross the street to vote.

2. 
   WorkshopJon | Nov 30, 2005 03:25am | #5

   Luka,

   How bad are they?  ISO or acetone, then Meguires can do the trick.

   JB

2. 
   sully13 | Nov 30, 2005 03:26am | #6

   The best way to polish granite is with an power dressing tool.  It is similar to a right angled grinder, 'cept it uses water lubricated diamond grinding pads which range from 50 grit to buff - somewhere north of 3000 grit. I have never seen one for rent as it is a specialty item so I bought one about a year ago and it works great.  Jokingly thought of hanging up my carpenters bags and workin' da stone.  Hope this helps.  

1. 
   sharpblade | Nov 30, 2005 03:35am | #7

   Mind if I ask you, what RPM does this thing run at? thanks.

2. 
   HeavyDuty | Nov 30, 2005 03:44am | #8

   Do you use it to polish the top? How good is the finish compared with the original finish?

   Granite fabricators told me that it's impossible to reproduce the factory finish with any hand polisher. That's what they use for polishing the finished edges and I have never seen a finished edge that has the same degree of finish as the top.

   The reason being, as I was told, hand polisher would only get you up to 5000 grit but the factory finish is typically 8000.

1. 
   TilemanCT | Nov 30, 2005 04:12am | #9

   OK take a deep breath and repeat after me. I WILL NOT TRY TO POLISH MY GRANITE COUNTERTOP!! It takes years in the trade of restoration to do a flawless repair of a granite top. YOU WILL RUIN IT. All stone does not polish the same way. Is the slab natural or is it resined? Is it a "true" granite? What is it's geology? You need to have your friend call a stone restoration contractor or a fabricator who top polish's" his seams. Not a DIY job.

2. 
   Karl | Nov 30, 2005 04:34am | #10

   "I have never seen a finished edge that has the same degree of finish as the top." If this is true your fabricator needs to perfect his polishing technique. Anyone using wet diamond pads and finishing with a felt pad and polishing powder should be able to match or exceed the polish on the slab surface.Using the polishing powder will usually take the stone from a mediocre polish (2000 grit) to a superb shine.There is an old italian guy named Maurizio Bertolli who sells stone care products under his name (MBstone.com) and raves about his proprietary stone polishing powder. I bought some and didn't find it any better than what the local fabricator supply house sells. It is interesting to hear him rant and rave about what his powder will do to restore a damaged polish.Alpha sells final finish pads that are supposed to match what powders do without the mess but they don't compare.The Tile guy that responded is right that it is foolish to think of polishing the surface of a granite top as one's first experience polishing stone.Someone asked about polisher speed. 2000 rpm is avg for a water fed polisher running 4" diamond pads. I have a variable speed one that goes from 800 to 3600 rpm. If you go over 2000 rpm and don't keep the stone wet with 800 grit and higher pads you run the risk of burning some stones. Polishing stone edges is easy when everything goes right, you have the necessary tools and a knowledgeable mentor to ask questions of. When problems crop up, when you have to improvise to make up for not having the right tool or you don't have any expert advice availible is when it gets difficult.Anyone who wants to polish stone should spend the afternoon touring the work area of a top quality fabrication shop. Look at the tools and techniques used. The problem is most shops seem to pride themselves on doing fast work rather than impeccable work. Most of the workers can do perfect work but they are usually judged on how fast they get the job done so they cut a lot of corners to keep their time down.

1. 
   HeavyDuty | Dec 01, 2005 04:51am | #13

   When you say the final polish consists of felt pads and polishing compound, do you use the same power polisher for the felt pads? Is it done wet or dry? What's in the polishing compound? There are polishing compounds with diamond dust in it have you ever tried those?

   The problem is most shops seem to pride themselves on doing fast work rather than impeccable work. Most of the workers can do perfect work but they are usually judged on how fast they get the job done so they cut a lot of corners to keep their time down.

   Unfortunately that's the economics of doing business. Fortunately most of the end users couldn't tell the difference between a mediocre polish and a fine polish.

1. 
   Karl | Dec 01, 2005 11:54am | #14

   Tom,
   I use either a metabo or a makita variable speed polisher for virtually all of the polishing in my work. Also a makita pistol grip polisher/sander (it looks like a half inch drill motor). For drilling with a core drill I use a water fed low speed angle grinder. The water fed grinder/polisher is nice to have around but it mostly just gets used for drilling 1 3/8inch holes for faucets.The polish powder is generally a proprietary mix/secret. I know tin oxide is one component of some polish powders.You mix up a wet paste of powder and water and work it from wet to dry. You can turn the felt pad on anything that will accept a velcro backer pad. Ideally you want to keep it under 3000 rpm.Never heard of diamond powder being used.The website someone posted a few messages back has some good info on countertop fabrication. Too bad there isn't more info being shared like that.karl

   Edited 12/1/2005 3:59 am ET by karl

2. 
   HeavyDuty | Dec 02, 2005 04:11am | #15

   Thanks Karl.

3. 
   Agatized | Dec 13, 2005 04:28am | #16

   One way to get information on polishing stone is to read up on the lapidary arts.  The way to get a good polish on a stone is to use finer and finer abrasives.  The finest are usually powders like tin oxide or cerium oxide.  Diamond is also used, but is fairly expensive.  Lapidary supply houses have a wide variety of these abrasives. 

   They are usually worked wet, both to keep dust down and to remove heat from the stone.  The polishing medium is usually leather.  It varies by the type of stone. 

   Erich