Silegranite Scratch Experiment

9 years ago

The good news is it took pressing this diamond saw blade as hard as I could against this piece of Silegranite to make a scratch that could barely be felt with a fingernail. I'm not aware of any diamond tipped kitchen utensils, so I'm not sure how an average person is going to scratch this stuff. Well, there are teenagers.

Getting the scratch out with diamond pads wasn't that tough.

But the higher the grit went, the uglier things got. This is after the third step in the Viper 3-step system.

I tried a few different things, some padded Mirka and even some of Steve's Polishing Pro abrasives and this was the best I could get.

The stick on top is untouched, the bottom had the work done. The finishes don't match and the pictures look much better than reality. The problem seems to be that the factory finish has some sort of matte texture to it. When I abrade the finish to remove the scratch, I'm getting the surface too shiny and have no way to put the matte back on. Yet.

I know what I'm going to do when I get the inevitable call to remove a scratch from a Silegranite sink. I'll have the homeowner purchase a replacement sink and send me an email acknowledging that their sink is ruined. When the new sink is on site, I'll try to polish out the scratch. If I'm successful in their judgment, they can ship the new sink back. If not we'll change it out.

Either that or a $1.50 color matched permanent magic marker applied every month or so.

This post was edited by Trebruchet on Sun, Jul 13, 14 at 20:14

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Comments (7)

live_wire_oak
9 years ago
Oiling it makes it virtually disappear. But, that would blow your service call! ;-D
Fori
9 years ago
Thanks for testing!

Are the sinks not the same material inside as out? Or do the dark ones just whiten up with scratching?

And what would you charge to polish up a sink before installation because they're not slick like a proper sink should be? :P
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PRO
Joseph Corlett, LLC
Original Author
9 years ago
"Oiling it makes it virtually disappear."

True, it does. I tried it in this test, however, one swipe with diluted Windex removes the oil immediately and the scratch reappears. I'm sure Dawn dish detergent would work even more quickly.
friedajune
9 years ago
Interesting experiment - have you scratched other sink materials with a diamond tipped saw? For this experiment you need to see how other materials would compare using the same test.

I am one of the "old-timers" on the GW, and cannot recall one complaint about Silgranit scratching, though there have been complaints about cracks occurring in transit, or when the sink was stored at the fabricators. This test demonstrates how great Silgranit is compared with the ease that SS scratches, or fireclay chips. And I am a SS sink owner BTW.
PRO
Joseph Corlett, LLC
Original Author
9 years ago
akchicago:

I am interested in the repairability of all surfaces. I've posted as to how easy it is to refinish stainless steel and solid surface sinks.

As I mentioned, it is going to be very difficult to scratch Silegranit, but when you do, it is not permenantly repairable. Yet.
Debbi Branka
9 years ago
I have white silgranit. What would that diamond blade scratch look like on that? So far, my sink has nothing that Softscrub with bleach and a green Scotchbrite pad can't take out. Looks new after almost 3 years. I love it and highly recommend it.
PRO
Joseph Corlett, LLC
Original Author
9 years ago
"I have white silgranit. What would that diamond blade scratch look like on that?"

deb52899:

I'm going to guess all scratches in Silegranit will appear white.

I was impressed with the toughness of this product. It took a diamond, 10 on the Mohs scale, pressing as hard as I could, to make a scratch that could barely be felt. So unless someone drops a diamond-bladed grinder in your sink while it's running, you're probably pretty safe from scratches.