Anyone cut/polish granite?

[Dennis93]

I found some slabs at the local Home Emporium, kinda like a Big Lots for home improvement stuff and they sell granite at $25 a sq ft by the slab. I am thinking about buying it and doing the cutting/installing myself. When I get the cut edges I will need to polish them to the shine. Has anyone ever attempted or done this professionally themselves and have any tips and ideas? I looked and know the basic process, more of what I'm looking for is any recommendations on what brand or where to buy the materials, (sanding pads, cutting blades, etc) and if I need anything else but a circular saw and angle grinder w/a diamond blade to cut granite.

I cut a small piece in the past before with a circular saw dry with a diamond blade on it and turned out ok, but definitely didn't do any polishing back then. No one around here sells the stuff to do it, and I understand, they want to keep their business of doing polishing to themselves and won't touch other material for liability reasons.

Thanks in advance

 

[rodm1]

I'm looking into this as wall and I found these videos helpful.

Cutting and supplyers

Polishing

 

[shoot summ]

I've cut, edged, and polished stone, not a pro, just a homeowner that likes to do this stuff.

First you have to realize it is stone, very hard stone, so everything works different, and it is really messy.

I've cut pieces with a dry blade, usually only use it for the back edge. For an edge I want to finish I use a small tile/stone cutting circular saw with a water feed.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_499299-70-D...20011480001674308&kpid=50030632&"cagpspn=pla"

To edge it I use a profiling tool, I used it dry on a VS grinder on softer stone, now have an air grinder with a water feed(I mentioned this is messy right?).

http://www.granitecitytool.com/browse/5244

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Weha-Speedy...957?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27dc682b8d

Once it is edged you need to start with the diamond pads on a DA sander/water, air is best, and it uses a lot(and is really messy).

http://www.granitecitytool.com/browse/5186

There are cheaper sources for the pads and profiling wheels, I bought some off of EBAY.

Not sure about your area, but my area is saturated with Stone shops, $25 a sq ft will get you stone already cut, edged, and installed. If you do it yourself you have a LOT of work ahead of you, and will need some help to move the heavy pieces around, and hopefully you don't break one...

This was my last project, cut and edged a piece of "marble"(actually limestone) that I bought off of CL for $25, made a nice top for a cabinet my wife chalk painted. This was a honed finish, much easier than polished...

 

[mayday0017]

Agreed $25/sqft is not a bargin in any way.... in Houston you can get granite for as low as $16/sqft including install, or up to around $25. Most people pay around $17-19 here.... You can also buy 8ft by 26" (or whatever standard depth is can't remember) slabs for around $100ea and have bullnose on 2 sides.

 

[transplant_wi]

Try a granite countertop fabricator for remnants - they may already have polished pieces and could probably finish them to your specs for relatively little. We got a reasonable price on a vanity top this way.

 

[rlitman]

By me, the base rate is $30/sq-ft measured and installed for common types of stone, and it goes up from there for more expensive stone.
I bought used granite for real cheap, and cut, profiled and polished it to fit my kitchen.

I ended up with a 14" diamond blade for my big saw (a circular saw is just fine though, but I used what I had), and did the cuts dry with a turbo blade. Segmented blades have more of a chance of chipping, and continuous rim blades must cut wet.

I bought a set of 6" hook and loop polishing pads (50 grit up to 3000 plus a buff), and planned to use my air DA sander with them. But I bought a pneumatic wet grinder to use with my profiling bits, and I then modified a hook and loop pad to fit it and use it with the polishing pads.

Here's what I've learned:
A granite profiler may look like an angle grinder, but it's pedigree is more like a router. In fact, profiling the edge is almost the same action as routing an ogee on a piece of wood, except for the fact that you're cutting it wet.

Yes, they make these tools in electric, but considering how well electric mixes with water, I chose pneumatic. If you have a 60 gallon compressor and think it is up to the task, think again and go with electric, rubber boots, and a GFI protected outlet.

When wet cutting, the more water you use, the faster you cut. If you don't have enough water, the stone forms a paste that slows the cutting action. That's why I gave up on using a DA with the polishing pads. The profiler had a 5/8-11 head that shoots water out the middle. I bought a sanding pad that attaches hook and loop pads to an angle grinder, and cut a hole in the middle for the water to come out through the pads. Running water on the slab with the DA was slow going. Having water come out through the pad on the profiler made the job go much faster.

However, if you're not planning to profile the edge (you can do a gentle roundover by hand to leave it square but not sharp using the polishing pads), then you should probably consider dry polishing. The pads look similar, but are different (dry pads get hotter, so wet cutting pads should not be used dry), and don't develop quite the gloss of a wet polish, but it can come close. Anyway, dry polishing is ideal for shining up the cut edges, even if it's not ideal for polishing a full top. And it can be done with a regular electric RO sander and a GOOD dust mask.

 

[Falcon67]

Try a granite countertop fabricator for remnants - they may already have polished pieces and could probably finish them to your specs for relatively little. We got a reasonable price on a vanity top this way.

This - go to a granite warehouse and look at the culls and cutoffs. We had 47 sq/ft installed in the kitchen last year and it was $30 sq/ft all done, cut, delivered, old counter removed, etc, so $25 is a bit fat. Cuts run about 1/2 price or so, depending on the piece. We can buy a nice piece of cut here for $20ish a sq/ft, $50 to cut a hole for a sink and the piece is all finished with your edging choice. For $25, shop around some more.

 

[2diamondfarm]

Agreed $25/sqft is not a bargin in any way.... in Houston you can get granite for as low as $16/sqft including install, or up to around $25. Most people pay around $17-19 here.... You can also buy 8ft by 26" (or whatever standard depth is can't remember) slabs for around $100ea and have bullnose on 2 sides.

Wow granite up in here in Michigan starts at $50 a foot

 

[musgofasta]

So Cal is full of tile/flooring shops with "pre-fabricated granite".

8 foot long x 2 foot cabinet depth slabs with an edge already polished on them.

Average colors start at about $150. Just cut the side to fit.

 

[TAMPAGT07]

I picked up one of these a few months ago..Rotoblast M100K wet polisher/grinder...Haven't had a chance to use it yet though...

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=223326

 

[Wingnut65]

Talk to them about that $25/sf price. Like others have said, that usually includes installation (sizing, cutting, polishing, delivery and installation)

I have some travertine tiles that I need to put around a fireplace and will need to cut and polish a couple edges, so, I'm interested in these comments

 

[TAMPAGT07]

I have some travertine tiles that I need to put around a fireplace and will need to cut and polish a couple edges, so, I'm interested in these comments

That's why I bought mine...Travertine paver and concrete countertop polishing...

 

[Dennis93]

Holy ****, granite is cheap in Texas! Here the slab at the store like you Mentioned where you take it home is 110 inches by 26 in width and 3/4 in thick is $369! That comes to around 25 a sq ft. Here installed price is starting around $40 for the lower end ugly **** and about 55 for a decent color that looks Like it will actually go in a middle class upper middle class house. Those were the installed prices from a granite supplier here that has the slabs and cuts it and all. Not just a middleman. I was going to put a dry saw blade on my circular saw and make straight cuts with a jig. I was also going to polish it either dry or just run water and use my harbor freight angle grinder to polish it wet so I wouldn't care if it broke. Not too scared of water and electricity lol, been there done that and my gfci s work. I'm more worried about getting the diamond grit pads. Am I stuck to buying the items online or anyone have any suppliers that are national like grainger or something?

Thanks for all the replies. I saw those videos on YouTube prior to posting, I'm more interested in the where to get equipment and tips and tricks to make a good cut and how to join the seams. I know you use epoxy but from what I'm reading it looks like you add colorant to it to match the color of the granite, and not sure where to buy that ever. Everyone online just seems so shady, but that's coming from a guy that's only used craigslist and amazon ever.