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Taj Mahal Mitered Edge Cutting Wastage

PSC Services
4 years ago

Hi,

Love these forums and this is my first post…


We are renovating our kitchen with Taj Mahal quartzite countertops (fell in love with this stone). Slabs already selected (had to have them due to unique veining) are 2cm thick x 120” x 74” with mesh on backside. Countertop on Island in kitchen will be 114” long x 44” wide. My fabricator is telling me a couple of things.


Firstly that due to the mesh on backside that creating a laminated flat butt joint for a 1.5” high flat edge profile will not look good. They say they would have to grind off the mesh/glue along the edges which will leave some chipping so that when the two pieces are joined there will be a noticeable seam even after polishing (basically due to removal of mesh process we may never get a good near-invisible tight seam). They also said mesh is there because the stone is brittle and can flake apart as you cut it possibly. Which confused me as I thought Taj Mahal was one of the strongest quartzite stones even stronger/harder than granite. So another question is even though it may be hard like granite is it brittle at the same time and tricky to work with?


Secondly, because of the above concerns they say a mitered 1.5” edge profile is the best way to go (which I frankly do not have any problems with). But they are also saying that because of the way the miter has to get cut (saw issues and or quartzite cutting concerns) there is always around 4” or so of wasted stone between the two cuts. Meaning you just can’t slice the stone, miter the two edges and rejoin them to have a nice 1.5” waterfall edge. They say we would lose 4” or so of stone “meat” between the two pieces. So it would never have perfect waterfall veining match up since the 4” between the pieces is discarded. I have searched online for info/videos showing the exact process (start to finish) for creating a mitered waterfall edge profile in quartzite (or any stone for that matter) and I see some showing the cutting part or the end part when they are glued together but never showing how much if any waste of stone there is between these pieces to be joined back up. So I’m questioning the validity of their statements regarding “miter cutting creates a lot of waste” as I just don’t understand why and can’t find info to educate myself on it. I am seeing online pics of beautifully made Taj waterfalls that look perfectly continued from horizontal to vertical sides. Another way to ask all this is… if I want a 114” x 44” countertop with 1.5” mitered edge. What are the overall minimum stone dimensions needed?


Any thoughts or help on both the butt edge joint with mesh issue, or miter cuts waste info are greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

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