front:

Your edges are done by hand and the variations are normal. If you want perfection, they'd have to be done on a
CNC machine.

Mine is perfectly smooth but I know they use a CNC machine so, as Treb pointed out, I'm guessing that's the reason.

Mine are completely smooth. No rough spots anywhere on the edge. The things I learn here! Never would have considered asking if the edges would be machine vs hand polished.

As "Trebruchet " said, yours are hand finished, as are mine.
I prefer the look to the CNC finish but understand why others don't

We CNC finish Ogee edges regularly. Depending on the stone sometimes the polished area is perfectly smooth and sometimes it has "dents" which are perceptible from the right viewing angle.

Such "dents" are not necessarily an indication of poor quality work as some stone will polish up that way despite any efforts to the contrary. It is possible to get the "dents" when they could be avoided if the CNC set-up for the polishing tools is slightly too agressive. If the "dents" are a deal breaker for you the only way to know for sure what you are going to get is to get a sample of the SAME STONE before you decide on an edge.

Thank you

The slab is already installed. It is mostly smooth, but I do feel rough spots. Maybe, one or two per side. It is almost if there is a rough stone that chipped slightly below the polished edge. I just don't want it to be poor workmanship. It was a substantial increase in cost. I will post pics a little later.

From the top, it looks normal:

When you look at it at an angle, you can see the bumps or variations. I can't tell if it is just this one side or the lighting.

I can't see but there is great beauty in the irregularity of hand hewn or polished surfaces, so not necessarily bad but a taste preference. I would be more concerned if the top were slick and smooth while other parts were not.

Beautiful stone!

FYI, mine is the same as yours - I can feel the non-smoothness but cannot really see it, even at an angle, perhaps because my granite is pretty busy or the lighting hasn't really been such to show it.

I had the same question as you but never really pursued an answer -- so now I know -- it must have been done by hand.

I have to be honest - it does not bother me at all. The island is ogee but the perimeter are all the straight edge.

I never knew there was differences in hand vs CNC edge profiling. Can any of you pros tell me more about the differences? Very educational! Thanks, KELLY

I am a fabricator.

10+ years ago a CNC finished edge was considered mediocre quality at best. The advent of the larger factory shops of the quartz manufacturers and the general adoption of CNC machines across the industry has lowered the bar for what is acceptable edge quality.

On a CNC the edges are polished by cylindrical tools with the inverse of the shape of the edge. The tooling has grits just like sand paper and goes something like 50, 100, 200, 400, 1000, 2000,3000. Not all are exactly like that but you get the idea.

The disadvantage to a CNC finished edge is that the tooling all operates in exactly the same plane so there is no cross action between successive grits in the polishing process. Image sanding wood and using the exact same stroke for every pass with every grit.

The process results in "tool lines" which are scratches left by the coarse grit tools. The final result is a shiny, polished edge but the "tool lines" are readily evident if viewed from the proper angle(s).

The dents or divots the OP mentioned are also more characteristic of CNC'd edges although they can also occur by hand.

A curved surface makes the tool lines harder to spot as does a lighter colored stone.

There is considerable expertise involved in doing a 1st rate CNC edge as the tool set up on the machine takes skill and diligence.

Brand new tools do the best job. Worn tools produce a very poor edge and many shops run their tooling well past the point where the tooling is doing a good job. I used to install for a major quartz brand that did their own fabrication and their edge quality was often horrible.

CNC'd edges also typically have sharp edges that should be blunted to make them less susceptible to chipping.

In my shop we do a couple of CNC finished edges but most are "vintage" edges which are shaped on the CNC but finished out by hand. I have a display in my showroom that puts a CNC edge side by side with a hand finished one. Once they've seen the difference only VERY seldom do customers opt for the CNC'd edge even tho we charge extra for the hand finishing.

Oldryder-thanks for that explanation. Very interesting. Do customers typically ask to see samples of your finished edges?

Edit: double post

This post was edited by romy718 on Thu, Aug 14, 14 at 23:01

Edit: triple post???

This post was edited by romy718 on Thu, Aug 14, 14 at 23:02

" Do customers typically ask to see samples of your finished edges?"

We show them samples whether they ask or not as it's important for them to see how we do it. Example is an Ogee which can be a shallow or much deeper arc into the stone depending on how the CNC is set up on that edge profile.

We also want them to see the handwork impact on the raw CNC'd edge.

i don’t like the lumps. Can they fix it so it is smooth

Not cost effectively. It also depends on the stone. Certain stones have sections harder than others. By the time you get the shine on the hard parts, you've got undulations in the soft sections.

Hi, looking
for an opinion as to whether I am being to picky on our newly installed Bianca Antico granite. I realize this granite has many variations on the surface due to the nature of it but there is an area on the edge which looks like a “scrape” to me. Soooo hard to see in pictures and honestly can only see at at different angles. The installers thought it was because of polishing at the manufacturer but when I speak to the fabricator they said they were told by installer it is part of the granite. They are sending “their best guy” out to see it. We purchased from a very reputable long-standing local business. Just looking to see if anyone could see these pictures well enough to give me an opinion here. Thank you