Rotex 90 for shaping, honing and polishing stone

[Rob Z]

Hi Tom,

Now I know why I am seeing your name and number on my caller ID....

Hi Jack

The man you see in the pictures above is who we should ask.  He does most of the sanding work on our jobs. 

We don't always know what will work in a given situation and many times just experiment on scrap until we figure out what will work.  We have wet polishing equipment but haven't used it in years.

Same question that Tom asked: is there a spot where you can experiment that is covered by a fireplace screen or something else? 

 

[jacko9]

Rob,  I have a raised hearth on a 45 degree angle and I could use one of the ends to experiment with.  I would gratefully  appreciate any suggestions.

 

[Rob Z]

Jack, I'll check later today when I get to the job and see Eddy. 

The travertine  in the picture above was more polished than honed (although it was sold as honed). Eddy scratched the surface of a tile while he was cleaning the grout joints with a utility knife. With a little work with the RO90 and various abrasives, he finished the stone and eliminated the scratch so well that I couldn't find the area of the repair when I got there the next day.

How much of a polished surface does your stone have? 

 

[tbellemare]

Thanks for jumping in, Rob. This is why I was calling yesterday...

I'm curious if Eddy has a technique for a high gloss finish on marble. What I've read about always included some sort of slurry with fine powder. I might have to give some 4000 Platin a try as an experiment. I did one of our bathrooms in 12" x 12" polished marble several years ago. It still has a nice shine so I haven't tried to fix it.

I have a couple of different types of loose marble tiles, the one I installed and one that appeared much harder. I chose the softer one for a couple of reasons, the look and thinking about fixing the cut edges.

Jack:

Can you take a picture of your mantle so we can see the type of marble and configuration?

Tom

 

[jacko9]

Tom and Rob,

I took pictures of both my travertine fireplace where the edges on the tiles are rough cut and my marble fireplace where the marble is just plain old dull.  I tried to buff the marble with stone polish and with furniture wax neither of which restored the original luster.

 

[tbellemare]

So, I take it you want a mirror type finish on the marble and to clean up the edges on the travertine?

Tom

 

[jacko9]

So, I take it you want a mirror type finish on the marble and to clean up the edges on the travertine?

Tom

Tom,

Yes on the marble and the travertine might be a problem since the edges on some of the tiles are set back 1/16 inch or so.

 

[Rob Z]

Jack, sorry it has taken so long to get back to this thread.  I just went into the shop and experimented on a piece of travertine. This travertine was honed, but had a bit more polish to it than what I normally see listed as "honed".

I deliberately scuffed up the face with some 40 grit Brilliant, and then worked through the grits all the way through Platin 4000.  By the time I was finished, the "damaged" area was shinier than the untouched surface---the original honed surface.

I wouldn't consider this application to yield results equal to what can be done with traditional tools and method used by the stone fabricators.  I have Alpha wet polishing equipment, but it isn't suitable for use indoors or during the winter. I have some Alpha dry use pads, but they are dusty and again, not something I want to use indoors. 

I think with time and patience, you could use the RO 90 and get both those fireplaces looking really nice. I don't think you'll get it back to the original highly polished look that the dark stone once had.  The RO90 will be able to dress up those cut edges on the travertine hearth.  That's essentially what we did in the bathroom job which was pictured at the beginning of the thread. 

 

[jacko9]

Thanks Rob, 

I decided to try the Platin 4000 grit since I can't seem to get there with anything else.  I spoke with the Stonetech people and they also indicated that dark (black/green) marble is a problem.  I'm not that concerned with the Travertine and I think I can get that looking pretty good with some effort.

Thanks for your input,

Jack

 

[Rob Z]

Hi Jack

You mention Platin 4000.....did you buy the other numbers, as well?  We've always worked our way through the range of Platin. 

 

[jacko9]

Rob,  Yes I purchased the Platin from 500 - 4000.  I will start out on some left over material and see how it goes.  Thanks for your advise.

Jack

 

[NorfolkNgood]

Hi
Travertine is extremely soft natural stone and in my experience nearly any aluminium oxide paper will buff/shape it ! Any stone mason will tell you to use silicon carbide paper which is much tougher.also the shaped/sanded edge must be re sealed  as well!
  Gav.

 

[jacko9]

Hi
Travertine is extremely soft natural stone and in my experience nearly any aluminium oxide paper will buff/shape it ! Any stone mason will tell you to use silicon carbide paper which is much tougher.also the shaped/sanded edge must be re sealed  as well!
  Gav.

Thanks for the input Gav.

Jack

 

[Absolute Stone Polishing]

I bought the RO 90 for sanding hardwood in furniture building but, this stone polishing has me interested.  I have a green/black marble fireplace surround facing that's getting dull after 30 years and was wondering what I would need to get the shine back?

Tom, do you have any recommendations?   

Hello I just was referred to this forum by Festool as I live 20 min away from their Indianapolis office which is one of the many reasons I've invested into using Festool.  Anyways, I use a rotex 125 with a ct36.  I use my set up for and specialize in stone refinishing, I've done lots of testing trying to figure out different ways to incorporate  Festools.  In regards to your marble fireplace there could be a number of ways to approach it.  Generally walls or vertical surfaces (excluding showers) don't need much.  If you could post a picture I could probably get you going in the rite direction.

 

[Absolute Stone Polishing]

Sorry just saw the pictures.  That green marble is actually a serpentine very hard material and difficult to polish if you have never done it before.  The finish that is on there is how that stuff polishes up all stone polishes differently the only way you may get more shine out of it is by using polishing compounds.  Serpentine polishes similiar to both calcite and silica based stones:  Calcite stones would be marble limestone and Travertine.  Silica based stone would be granite in which you need to put the festool paper away and go to diamonds.  Serpentine "green marble" has attributes of both types of stone (calcite and silica) so polishing it can get tricky.  Leave it thats the way it is supposed to look.

In regards to the travertine use a sanding block and do it by hand start with like a 120 grit maybe and 80 grit if you can't get the scratches out take it up to like 1200
80 120 220 400 800 1200.  Tape off the finished area to prevent an opps.  Throw a little auto motive wax or color enhancer on edge if the color isnt rite.  Don't get carried away if you us color enhancer you can get yourself in trouble.

 

[jacko9]

Sorry just saw the pictures.  That green marble is actually a serpentine very hard material and difficult to polish if you have never done it before.  The finish that is on there is how that stuff polishes up all stone polishes differently the only way you may get more shine out of it is by using polishing compounds.  Serpentine polishes similiar to both calcite and silica based stones:  Calcite stones would be marble limestone and Travertine.  Silica based stone would be granite in which you need to put the festool paper away and go to diamonds.  Serpentine "green marble" has attributes of both types of stone (calcite and silica) so polishing it can get tricky.  Leave it thats the way it is supposed to look.

In regards to the travertine use a sanding block and do it by hand start with like a 120 grit maybe and 80 grit if you can't get the scratches out take it up to like 1200
80 120 220 400 800 1200.  Tape off the finished area to prevent an opps.  Throw a little auto motive wax or color enhancer on edge if the color isnt rite.  Don't get carried away if you us color enhancer you can get yourself in trouble.

Thanks for the information but, my original question is how to restore the bright polished finish that has dulled over 30 years?  Perhaps it's too tricky for an amateur to tackle and I'll just leave it as is.

The Travertine doesn't bother us as much as other projects in the house so, It's a future project but, thanks for the suggestion.

Jack

 

[Absolute Stone Polishing]

Sorry just saw the pictures.  That green marble is actually a serpentine very hard material and difficult to polish if you have never done it before.  The finish that is on there is how that stuff polishes up all stone polishes differently the only way you may get more shine out of it is by using polishing compounds.  Serpentine polishes similiar to both calcite and silica based stones:  Calcite stones would be marble limestone and Travertine.  Silica based stone would be granite in which you need to put the festool paper away and go to diamonds.  Serpentine "green marble" has attributes of both types of stone (calcite and silica) so polishing it can get tricky.  Leave it thats the way it is supposed to look.

In regards to the travertine use a sanding block and do it by hand start with like a 120 grit maybe and 80 grit if you can't get the scratches out take it up to like 1200
80 120 220 400 800 1200.  Tape off the finished area to prevent an opps.  Throw a little auto motive wax or color enhancer on edge if the color isnt rite.  Don't get carried away if you us color enhancer you can get yourself in trouble.

Thanks for the information but, my original question is how to restore the bright polished finish that has dulled over 30 years?  Perhaps it's too tricky for an amateur to tackle and I'll just leave it as is.

The Travertine doesn't bother us as much as other projects in the house so, It's a future project but, thanks for the suggestion.

Jack

Jack that is the shiney finish, the only part of that fireplace that would need any work done is the hearth.  Most fireplaces don't get used much, scratches and etching are the only thing that will dull the finish for the most part.  Polishing stone is a perminate thing.  Serpentine "green marble" doesn't shine to a real high gloss like marble, and is very difficult to polish.  I can explain the process but start with the travertine its more forgiving.  Long story short don't touch it, it looks good from the picture I saw.

 

[jacko9]

Thanks for the advise, I'd hate to make things worst by bumbling along in the dark.  One person suggested that I just buff it out with a paste wax or leave it as is.

Jack

 

[B_Swanson]

Any suggestions on a progression of abrasives to buff out a scratch and return the sheen to a soapstone countertop?  Thanks in advance.

Brad

 

[Absolute Stone Polishing]

Thanks for the advise, I'd hate to make things worst by bumbling along in the dark.  One person suggested that I just buff it out with a paste wax or leave it as is.

Jack

Clean it up with some denatured alcohol use a razor to scrape up anything that is stuck to it, throw some turtle wax on there, buff it with a microfiber and call it done.  [cool]