CHOOSING THE CORRECT GRIT

30/ 50 grit –  HEAVY GRINDING - Typically used to remove deep scratches and heavy damage or removing the scratch paten from metal grinding stages. These aggressive grits will leave the surface rough and visible scratches will be present. 

100/200 grit – HONING – Used to remove moderately deep scratches or damage. These grits will leave the surface smooth to the touch but still considered anti slip when wet. No shine will be present and the scratches left behind will be barely visible if at all. 

400/ 800 grit – FINE HONING – These grits are considered the starting steps in the polishing process. Used to remove light scratches, acid etching and general ware damage. These grits will produce a dull to satin shine. 

1500/3000 – POLISHING – The final stages in the polishing process. These grits are to fine to remove any damage and will only produce shine, if surface damage is present use a lower grit. If the process has been completed correctly a mirror shine will be achieved.

8500/BUFF - FINE POLISHING – Some materials accept a polish differently, although not necessary in most cases these grits will act as a final buff if needed. 

FAQ:

My marble surface has been scratched/ etched, will a 3000/ Buff pad remove this?

No, the damage must be removed by fine honing before you can start polishing, refer to the guide above to determine what grit to start from. 

Can I skip grits? Can I jump from 200 to 800 grit?

No, each grit is progressively finer than the last, they have been resigned to remove the scratch pattern from the previous grit, if you fail to completely remove the scratch pattern from a previous grit, this will indefinitely compromise your desired finish.   

I have your marble pads and they work amazing! Will these also work on my granite vanity?

No, there is a reason we have Australia’s largest range of pad types. It would be much easier and cost effective for us to just stock one pad, but we need to cater to the professional market to the highest possible standards. Marble is soft and abrasive compared to granite, therefore the resin needs to be hard to prevent the pad and diamonds from wearing inefficiently. If a marble pad is used on granite, with both the resin and stone being hard, the pad will not wear at its intended rate, compromising the pads intended purpose and desired result. This applies to Marble (Limestone, Travertine and Onyx are the same class as Marble due to material characteristics) Granite, Concrete and Engineered Stones. Multipurpose pads perform like rubbish and that’s why we don’t sell them! 

Im struggling to remove scratches from the previous grit, What do you recommend?

There are many variables to this question, I will try to address them all.

Firstly, always use our pads, our pads are hand selected and widely tested by independent professionals across Australia. Our pads are the highest quality possible and do not have straggler diamonds (diamonds larger than their specified grit).

Is the surface clean? Debris on the surface can scratch depper than your tooling, always clean your work before starting and after each cut. Cleaning after each cut ensures all diamonds from the previous grit are removed.

Are you using the correct bond? Off road tyres and racing tyres are essentially the same thing, rubber over a wheel, but both have very different intended applications and diamond tooling is no different. Marble pads are designed with a harder resin to accommodate a softer stone and when used correctly perform exceptionally. Using marble pads on extremely hard materials, like granite results in poor performance. The hard resin on the hard material wont effectively ware away to expose new diamonds and you can expect an undesirable finish.  Conversely, using a soft resin like granite pads on a soft material like marble will result in the pad wearing faster than intended and the pad will perform poorly because the diamonds

ALL PADS ARE NOT CREATED EQUAL...
What differentiates our diamonds from others? STONETOOLS caters for the high end professional market, this means that all our diamonds have to perform at the highest possible level as expected by the most renowned fabricators and restorers in the country. Mable and Granite are significantly different in hardness, therefore the resin diamond matrix needs to be significantly different. There is no universal pad that performs well on all materials. Marble is soft in relation to Granite, therefore a hard resin is needed prolong the life of the pad and keep fresh diamonds working longer. If the resin is too soft the material will work against the resin and quickly wear out the pad. Granite is very hard compared to marble thus it needs a softer resin, hard resin on hard material will result in the pad skating on the material, the pad needs to slowly wear to expose new diamonds. Diamond content is also a driving factor in how our pads perform, cheaper pads contain less diamonds resulting in slower results, faster wear and diminished performance. We also take pride in our ability to supply several diamond options to tackle any project as efficiently and cost effectively as possible.