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Sanding down edges of marble to fit ?

linnea56 (zone 5b Chicago)

8 years ago

last modified: 8 years ago

I had a friend of a friend of a friend make 2 cuts in a piece
of marble tile I already have. It is to be fit as an inset into an antique oak table
I have. I drew lines in marker on it, which, if he had followed them, would
have made it small enough to give me a margin of error in fitting. I wanted it
too small rather than too large. Unfortunately, he did not follow the lines, but
cut well outside them, and both dimensions are 1-2 mm too large.

I can’t really dissemble the inside edges of the table to
alter those instead.

It took months to find anyone to cut the tile, so finding someone
else to cut another piece is not going to happen.

Can I sand down the marble? If so, with what? Thanks for
your suggestions.

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Comments (6)

kellelely
8 years ago
Marble sands pretty easily - you can just use your orbital sander with medium grit paper (in the ~60-80 range to start). There are special polishing sandpapers if you want to further shine up the marble, but it sounds like for your project that won't be necessary.

Next time instead of waiting months, just rent a wet saw! They're pretty easy to work (although spending $50-100 on a tool rental for one tile is a bit silly).
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linnea56 (zone 5b Chicago)
Original Author
8 years ago
I looked into rentals months ago. Couldn't find one to rent except pro models renting for over $ 100 a day. Local home improvement stores like Lowe's don't rent tools (in this state). It's frustrating: what I want seems so simple....
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kellelely
8 years ago
Yeah, Lowes doesn't rent tools here, either - it's a bummer! And that would be pricey for just a few simple cuts.

I'd try the sanding - it will take a little effort, but 1-2mm is slim enough that you could sand that off to get it to fit.

Good luck!
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Vith
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Buy an entry level angle grinder and use a cut off wheel to make the cuts. Have to freehand the cut but it only costs about 20 bucks.. very useful tool to have anyhow.
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linnea56 (zone 5b Chicago)
Original Author
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Oh, that's interesting. That is not a tool I had thought of. You mean to trim down the oversize piece, or to make new cuts on a fresh tile? I have a bench grinder, which I have seldom used. I had been thinking of trying that to sand down the edges, but had not worked out how to get the right angle, plus I wasn't sure if it would wreck the wheel or fill it up with stone dust.
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Vith
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
I didnt notice you only needed to take off a couple mm more on the tile before.

An angle grinder is like a handheld bench grinder, but using a cut off wheel with it you can make cuts instead of grinding. Bench grinders are best for things like sharpening tools or grinding an angle into a piece of metal for welding or smoothing an edge on stone or metal. I do think if you just need a couple mm taken off, the bench grinder would do the trick just fine. If you need to make another cut or special cuts into the tile then the angle grinder would be used.

There will be dust, thats why wet saws are wet (to control dust). Proper protective gear is called for with grinders (facemask, hearing, breathing, gloves, sleeves).
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