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Polishing Granite or Basalt

Stone Conversations : Archive 11 : Message 00060

From: Norman Watts <Norman_Watts@zzzzzzz>
Date: Wed, 11 Jan 2006 05:50:30 -0500
Subject: Polishing Granite or Basalt

On Jan 10, 2006, at 11:36 PM, B BOLDING wrote:

Quoted text begins. on the basalt. I cut it, then shaped it with a diamond cup wheel,
then a masonry wheel, then the alpha water-lubed, 4" pads, starting
at about 80 and going up to 3000.
End of quote.


What are the considerations for polishing basalt, or a similar hard
stone? I can see final shaping with a series (coarse, med, fine) of
diamond cup wheels, then smoothing with one of the series of diamond
abrasive pads (such as Diarex, Pearl Fusion, etc), then fine
polishing with a buffing compound.

What are the considerations beyond this simplistic approach? For
example, for basalt, is one type of polishing pad more suitable than
another? Just looking through the GranQuartz catalog the
manufacturers seem to have different grit series in an attempt to
eliminate the number of polishing steps. Is this actually so? Does
one type of pad material work better than another? At which point
does water lubrication become necessary, or should it be used all the
time, starting with the cup wheels?

What was the purpose of introducing a masonry wheel while working the
fountain?

Thanx,

Norman

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