Hand polishing mitred edges-Travertine

[Miles]

Hi, I have cut my mitred edges of some fairly brittle travertine and I'm not happy with the finish so I have not fixed them yet and thought I would see if any of you guys can offer any advice? The ones with actual chunks off have been recut but there is still a roughness to them as obviously its a brittle tile being cut to a very thin finish. I want to give the customer a close to perfect finish as I can. I'm thinking a fine sand paper used by hand? Any better suggestions? Anything I try will be done by hand.

 

[Kyle Knowles]

The trick to miter is staying back just a fraction from the factory edge or at least a straight cut edge don't try to cut a miter as if it was wood

 

[Miles]

The ones I have done with the cuts where I am cutting in the middle of the tile are only marginally better. I am after a decent way of smoothing down the edges by hand before fixing and grouting. If I am honest I'm not even sure there is a way which is why I mentioned using a fine sand paper. Any ideas?

 

[J Sid]

rap some paper round a block if you haven't a variable speed.grinder.
Start with a medium grit
paper work your way down.
You would have been better to ask advice on how to do external corners first.

 

[Miles]

Thanks, customer specified mitred corners. Out of curiosity what is best way of doing external corners??

 

[Flintstone]

Round off one corner and polish it, then butt the other tile up to it

 

[Old Mod]

Cut your tile to desired length with a straight cut, then cut your 45o, but leave 2mm on the leading edge, as diagram.
Then you can use something like Sait carborundum pads to hand finish before you bring the pieces together.
It will then create a 'birds beak' a V shape if you will.
This gives you a good joint to grout, and it will give it some strength.



You can get Sait pads from ATS
SAIT Plain Silicon Carbide Discs 125mm | ATS Diamond Tools - http://www.atsdiamondtools.co.uk/node/56

 

[Flintstone]

If your going to do that sort of mitre, and grout the v area, is there any need to hand finish anything as there will be a grouted corner so no unfinished tile visable

 

[Old Mod]

It'll depend on the stone really Andy, and how well it comes finished.
Doesn't hurt to run an abrasive paper over the finished corner to take any sharp edges off.

 

[Concrete guy]

If it's only a few edges you need to do a few sheets of wet and dry at different grits would probably do what you need. There's no need to buy a load of Silicon Carbide discs for a one off, it's worth buying them though if it's a reasonably regular thing.

I was never keen on mitres on travertine due to it's brittle nature. I always preferred to overlap the edge and square polish with maybe a micro bevel. It effectively gives the same end appearance and is more resilient to knocks.