Black Marble Problems

[James & Zelma Litzmann]

I just unwrapped some black marble that I got from one of two places, not sure which one, I will have to look at the paper work to be sure. Anyhow, I ordered this 6 months ago and now when I need it, I pull it out and it has little square designs on the front of some of them and what looks to be water stains on some of the other. Any ideas anyone, how do I get rid of this?

Zelma

[Darren Null]

1) Send it back. Even if you don't it's worth moaning to the distributor, because I'm sure that's not what you asked for and you might get some concessions for the future. Send photos. Go on at length. Contracts; job lost because of quality of goods and delivery time etc etc.

2) Depending on how large/thick the pieces are you might be able to cut/polish the pieces to give you a suitable surface:

Yourself, oil and sander if the pieces are very small; fine sandpaper, oil on the marble whetstone style.

Is there someone near you who works with marble? Undertaker, maybe. They might have the kit to give you a good finish on quite large pieces.

That's all that occurs at the moment.

EDIT: Ooh. Car bodyshop. They have the gear for polishing metal bodies smooth (after welding bits on to cover holes/damage/rusty patches) prior to painting. You might be able to talk somebody into skimming your marble pieces; but whoever it is will have to be good at it, so you don't end up with a concave surface that'll throw your focus out a bit.

[Joe Pelonio]

You could do it yourself with automotive "rubbing compound" which is used to remove small scratches and oxidation before waxing a car. All auto parts stores have it.

Dupont, 3M, and Turtle Wax make it to name 3.

Otherwise I'd suggest a kitchen counter granite supplier, I know there's one next to where my shop used to be that do their own polishing of marble and granite.

[Tom Bull]

I have been getting a lot of scraps of granite out of the dumpster of the local counter-top shop. I talked to one of the fabricators and he said they use various diamond pads to polish the granite. He also said they sell marble, but I was specifically asking about the granite. I think he said they start at something like a 100 grit and go all the way to 3000 grit, very fine indeed. I have used a 60 grit belt, followed by 400 grit, and then cork to polish (all on wet belt sander) and got an OK polish for the edges of the bits I cut with a tile saw. As they say "test in a hidden area before using".