My project is to renovate the bathroom. For the vanity top I intend
to use polished white marble 12 x 12 tiles, the proposed countertop
being 24 in x 6 ft. There will be an undercounter ceramic sink.
This is like the set up found in hotels and restaurants where the
countertop has a cutout for the sink and there is a slight overhang.
I like the idea of just wiping stuff into the sink without having to
run the rag over a raised lip as would be the case of a surface mount
sink.

I shouldn't have too much trouble making the cutout for the sink. The
question is what do I have to do to polish the cut so that it matches
the glass smooth finish of the marble tile? I suppose I will have to
use whetstone to polish it to glass smoth. Is there a clear wax
varnish I have to apply after that?

On Fri, 15 Oct 2004 06:58:43 GMT, PaPaPeng wrote:

Take a look at Harbor Freight items
#44885 , 44886 , 44887

Fred

My project is to renovate the bathroom. For the vanity top I intend
to use polished white marble 12 x 12 tiles, the proposed countertop
being 24 in x 6 ft. There will be an undercounter ceramic sink.
This is like the set up found in hotels and restaurants where the
countertop has a cutout for the sink and there is a slight overhang.
I like the idea of just wiping stuff into the sink without having to
run the rag over a raised lip as would be the case of a surface mount
sink.

I shouldn't have too much trouble making the cutout for the sink. The
question is what do I have to do to polish the cut so that it matches
the glass smooth finish of the marble tile? I suppose I will have to
use whetstone to polish it to glass smoth. Is there a clear wax
varnish I have to apply after that?

Get yer wife (or girlfriend) a lamb's wool robe and get jiggy wit
it...........

;-]

PaPaPeng wrote:

I shouldn't have too much trouble making the cutout for the sink.
The question is what do I have to do to polish the cut so that it
matches the glass smooth finish of the marble tile? I suppose I
will have to use whetstone to polish it to glass smoth. Is there a
clear wax varnish I have to apply after that?

Depends on the sheen you want. First step is to make it totally
flat/smooth...wet or dry paper will work fine, grit depends on how rough the
edge is; if rough, start with #240 then work down to #600 or finer. Easy to
do, marble is very soft.

After that, various fine grit polishing compounds with a small cotton or
lambs wool pad or wheel to give the sheen you want...pumice, auto rubbing
compound or rouge, tripoli, etc.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...hing+compounds

--
dadiOH
_____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.0...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico
____________________________

"PaPaPeng" wrote in message
...
My project is to renovate the bathroom. For the vanity top I intend
to use polished white marble 12 x 12 tiles, the proposed countertop
being 24 in x 6 ft. There will be an undercounter ceramic sink.
This is like the set up found in hotels and restaurants where the
countertop has a cutout for the sink and there is a slight overhang.
I like the idea of just wiping stuff into the sink without having to
run the rag over a raised lip as would be the case of a surface mount
sink.

I shouldn't have too much trouble making the cutout for the sink. The
question is what do I have to do to polish the cut so that it matches
the glass smooth finish of the marble tile? I suppose I will have to
use whetstone to polish it to glass smoth. Is there a clear wax
varnish I have to apply after that?

this is typically done with diamond backed wet sanders. the tooling will
cost you about $500 to start with. you can do small edging with wet/dry
sandpaper, starting at a low number grit and progressively working to a very
high number, and then polishing with cerium or rouge. use it wet to contain
the dust, as inhaling that can lead to silicosis.

warning: it takes a LOT of elbow grease.

conversely, you can get them polished by counter fabrication places. that
runs $15-20 linear foot.

Having just made a countertop out of marble tiles I can tell you that no
special equipment is required to do a pretty decent job, and it doesn't take
all that long. Marble is very soft. All you need is sandpaper of varying
grits. Now if you were dealing with granite - different story, I'd probably
say go to the professional. But marble can be shaped and sanded very easily.

I started with 150 on a belt sander to shape the edges. That takes no time
at all. Once you have the shape you want, use an orbital sander or a sanding
block with progressively finer grits. I only used three - 200, 400 then 2000
grit. The superfine stuff is actually intended for sanding paint repairs on
automobiles. Conveniently, it is also wet/dry. It was extremely effective in
creating a very highly polished surface after I finished with the 400. I
happened to have some 2000 grit handy when I did this, but you can also get
1000, 1500 and so on that might make job go faster. Look at auto parts
stores or online.

All told it only took about 10 or 15 minutes to get a very nice edge on a
piece of marble tile.

"Charles Spitzer" wrote in message
...

"PaPaPeng" wrote in message
...
My project is to renovate the bathroom. For the vanity top I intend
to use polished white marble 12 x 12 tiles, the proposed countertop
being 24 in x 6 ft. There will be an undercounter ceramic sink.
This is like the set up found in hotels and restaurants where the
countertop has a cutout for the sink and there is a slight overhang.
I like the idea of just wiping stuff into the sink without having to
run the rag over a raised lip as would be the case of a surface mount
sink.

I shouldn't have too much trouble making the cutout for the sink. The
question is what do I have to do to polish the cut so that it matches
the glass smooth finish of the marble tile? I suppose I will have to
use whetstone to polish it to glass smoth. Is there a clear wax
varnish I have to apply after that?

this is typically done with diamond backed wet sanders. the tooling will
cost you about $500 to start with. you can do small edging with wet/dry
sandpaper, starting at a low number grit and progressively working to a
very
high number, and then polishing with cerium or rouge. use it wet to
contain
the dust, as inhaling that can lead to silicosis.

warning: it takes a LOT of elbow grease.

conversely, you can get them polished by counter fabrication places. that
runs $15-20 linear foot.

"Jamie" wrote in message
news
Having just made a countertop out of marble tiles I can tell
you that no
special equipment is required to do a pretty decent job, and it
doesn't take
all that long. Marble is very soft. All you need is sandpaper
of varying
grits. Now if you were dealing with granite - different story,
I'd probably
say go to the professional. But marble can be shaped and sanded
very easily.

I started with 150 on a belt sander to shape the edges. That
takes no time
at all. Once you have the shape you want, use an orbital sander
or a sanding
block with progressively finer grits. I only used three - 200,
400 then 2000
grit. The superfine stuff is actually intended for sanding
paint repairs on
automobiles. Conveniently, it is also wet/dry. It was extremely
effective in
creating a very highly polished surface after I finished with
the 400. I
happened to have some 2000 grit handy when I did this, but you
can also get
1000, 1500 and so on that might make job go faster. Look at
auto parts
stores or online.

I've heard auto paint supply stores are the place for the fine
sandpaper.

Bob

On Fri, 15 Oct 2004 09:43:36 -0700, "Charles Spitzer"
wrote:

I polish granite (and marble) using a set of diamond pads from Harbor
Freight (about $40) and a cheap random orbit sander (about $25) .
The pads don't need to be flooded , just kept wet .
The 'proper' tool is a Mikita PW5001C (about $275) .

Fred


"PaPaPeng" wrote in message
.. .
My project is to renovate the bathroom. For the vanity top I intend
to use polished white marble 12 x 12 tiles, the proposed countertop
being 24 in x 6 ft. There will be an undercounter ceramic sink.
This is like the set up found in hotels and restaurants where the
countertop has a cutout for the sink and there is a slight overhang.
I like the idea of just wiping stuff into the sink without having to
run the rag over a raised lip as would be the case of a surface mount
sink.

I shouldn't have too much trouble making the cutout for the sink. The
question is what do I have to do to polish the cut so that it matches
the glass smooth finish of the marble tile? I suppose I will have to
use whetstone to polish it to glass smoth. Is there a clear wax
varnish I have to apply after that?

this is typically done with diamond backed wet sanders. the tooling will
cost you about $500 to start with. you can do small edging with wet/dry
sandpaper, starting at a low number grit and progressively working to a very
high number, and then polishing with cerium or rouge. use it wet to contain
the dust, as inhaling that can lead to silicosis.

warning: it takes a LOT of elbow grease.

conversely, you can get them polished by counter fabrication places. that
runs $15-20 linear foot.