How do you Sand Sandstone?

[peter halle]

Well, Peter did an oops.  We have a sandstone hearth and while removing the screen and glass to relight the pilot light that was extinguished by the dog sitter a couple of months ago I managed to gouge the hearth.  Gouges are a good 1/16 deep.  I have a Rotex 150 ETs 150, and ETS 125.

Does anyone have advice on sanding sandstone like what I will have to do to get the gouges out?

Peter

I also have a RAS but would be scared to try that.

 

[scb_yyz]

Hi Peter,
I've had good results with Granat and emery papers on a sandstone shower wall which was picking up mineralization and pitting (20 years bad ). 

I used an LS130 for linearity with the grain of the stone ( in my case ).  It will look pretty dull when you're done, but a color enhancer, seal coat, and then food grade wax will bring a shine back.  I went 120,220,400.  I found the Granat held up very well. 

I guess you'd need to be careful of the flammability of your products in this case.  Do be careful.

 

[Packard]

I googled, “Resurfacing Sandstone” and got a lot of results, several videos.

I never came across sandstone until now.  So I was not in a position to evaluate the videos.

Where is sandstone mined?  We make steps primarily from granite, in NY.
https://www.google.com/search?q=res...efox-b-1-m&dlnr=1&sei=gtSqZbuoG6yh5NoPh7q2iAc

 

[Cheese]

Peter, I've never reworked sandstone before but I have reworked soapstone. I believe sandstone is softer than soapstone at least the local stuff is. Local sandstone is like fine grains of sand glued into a block. I can remember being a kid and rubbing 2 pieces of sandstone together and watching the sandstone pieces get smaller but the pile of sand get larger.  [smile]

For the soapstone I used an ETS EC 125 with Granat paper in 180 & 240 grits. The Granat held up quite well. I'd definitely take the Rotex to the sandstone before I'd go the RAS route.  [tongue]

You may not need to remove the gouges completely. Depending upon lighting and location, if the gouges were reduced in depth by even half, they may just "disappear".

 

[peter halle]

Thanks guys!  I will give it a shot.  I will try Granat 180 to start and see what happens.  I will follow up with a sealer.

I did reach out to Sedge at Festool but he hadn't tried it before.

Oh, I ran my hand over the area and didn't find any loose grit so it must have been there from before.  We rarely have a bright light on in that room so it must have happened before.

Thanks again.

Peter