Beveling Base Starter Kit

Question : What materials can the Alpha® Beveling Auxiliary Base be used on?

Answer : Granite, quartzite, engineered stone, marble, limestone, porcelain, crystallized glass and concrete slab.

Question : What is the spindle size required of the polisher or variable speed grinder for attachment onto the Beveling Auxiliary Base?

Answer : The Beveling Auxiliary Base comes with a 5/8-11” spindle thread “Universal Adapter Assembly” for attaching the polisher or variable speed grinder to the unit.

Question : Can I use the Beveling Auxiliary Base dry?

Answer : No, the Beveling Auxiliary Base has precision parts that need to be clean and dust free. The Beveling Auxiliary Base should be used in wet applications to keep these parts clear of dust and debris.

Question : What is the maximum rpm which I can use the Beveling Auxiliary Base?

Answer : The maximum RPM will depend on the polishing abrasives used together with the Beveling Auxiliary Base. The Alpha® Turboshine System, which is the recommended polishing abrasives for use with the Beveling Auxiliary Base, has a maximum RPM of 4,000.

Question : Should I use a polisher or variable speed grinder when working with the Beveling Auxiliary Base?

Answer : Both a polisher (pneumatic or electric) or vari-able speed grinder will work with the Beveling Auxiliary Base, it’s your preference. When you use a variable speed grinder, you need to set the RPM to accommodate the maximum rpm range of the abrasives that you are using.

Question : What is the largest diameter size wheel that the Beveling Auxiliary Base will accept?

Answer : The Beveling Auxiliary Base is designed to be used with 3” diameter wheels for best performance but is does accept a 4” pad.

Question : What is the recommended polishing abrasives for use with the Beveling Auxiliary Base?

Answer : The Alpha® Turboshine “Rigid” wheels. https://www.alpha-tools.com/pages/productdetails.aspx?pagecode=1720

Question : I need to polish pure white Crystallized Glass, does the Alpha® Turboshine abrasives polish this material?

Answer : Alpha® developed Turboshine for Crystallized Glass to specifically polish this pure white material. Due to the density of crystallized glass, we designed Turboshine for Crystallized Glass to polish to a crystal clear shine without any haze on the reflection.

Question : When I polish engineered stone using the Beveling Auxiliary Base, can I use the “Engineered Stone/Quartz Surface” flexible wheel to create the snake skin effect on the edge of the material?

Answer : Yes, use the flexible wheel (Part No. TSE32000R) after the RIGID #500 wheel (Part No. TSR30500R). It is important that when you use the wheel to create the snake skin appearance, set the RPM of the tool to the lowest RPM, wet the surface then turn the water off and use this wheel without any pressure to the material. A slurry will appear on the material which indicates the wheel is performing normally allowing the slurry to remove the soft areas of the engineered stone which gives the material the snake skin appearance.

Question : Do I use the Turboshine #100 Rigid resin wheel to grind and create the bevel on the material?

Answer : No. Alpha® has a vacuum brazed diamond wheels (Part No. TSM30060M & TSM30120M) which are used to grind the material to create the beveled edge.

Question : When grinding a bevel to a set width, what is the procedure on how to set up the “Angular Measure”?

Answer : Refer to the instruction manual of the Beveling Auxiliary Base (page 11 – 13) for step-by-step instructions.

Question : What is the correct method of moving the Beveling Auxiliary Base across the material?

Answer : Move the Beveling Auxiliary Base across the material in back and forth motion making sure that the rolling wheels on the main base keeps in contact with the top surface of the material.

Question : How fast do I move the Beveling Auxiliary Base across the material?

Answer : Move the Beveling Auxiliary Base across the material in a speed that is comfortable for the operator.

Question : Performing Seamless Edge Preparation, what is the distance that I should set-up my straight edge for the Beveling Base to follow?

Answer : The distance for setting up a straight edge will be around 5-1/4”. This distance will vary depending on the height of your Turboshine abrasives. To set up the straight edge, we suggest the following. 

Question : What is the major differences between Seam Phantom and Beveling Auxiliary Base?

Answer : The Seam Phantom is sold together with your choice of polisher and guide rail so that it is expensive. The Alpha® Beveling Auxiliary Base is designed to be retrofitted with any polisher and variable speed grinder with 5/8”-11 spindle. You can’t replace the original polisher with any other polisher since the Seam Phantom is made for a designated model. The Alpha® Beveling Auxiliary Base offers two arms to make square edge and beveled edges, whereas the Seam Phantom can only polish a square edge.

Question : How does SFA recommend using the Turboshine System for seamless countertop installations?

Answer : It depends on the condition of seam but usually start from #200 Rigid Type wheel then followed by #500 Rigid Type, #1000 Flexible Type, #2000 Flexible Type, #3000 Flexible Type and Buff. SFA instructors like to use finer grits in a slight angle to reduce the contact surface so that you do not have to press the wheel against the surface with extra pressure. All Alpha® products are interchangeable in grit sequence so that you can mix and match. Although generic polishing pads may say the same grit indication, it may not work the same way so it is not a good idea to mix Alpha® products and others in one polishing system.

Question : How can I use the Eng. Stone/Quartz Surface Pad?

Answer : When you see a lot of texture on the snake skinned surface, you can use it after completing #500 whether it is Flexible or Rigid Type. You need to wet the surface of targeted area and then stop the water feed. Polish at the lowest RPM your polisher could work without pressure to create slurry, then work with it to remove softer area of Eng. Stone/Quartz Surface. When texture appears on the surface, you can continue polishing with #1000 all the way to #3000 or you can stop at #2000 depending on the original surface condition. If the texture on the snake skinned surface is very shallow, you can use the same technique after #1000 instead of #500 that will give you shallower texture.

Question : How much pressure do I need to polish various stones?

Answer : For harder stone such as Granite, you may need to give medium pressure starting #1000. However, we recommend machine weight only for the coarse grits such as #100 through #500 in order to avoid creating convex on the surface. For softer stone such as Marble, Limestone, Eng. Stone/Quartz Surfaces and Concrete Slab, machine weight is generally enough. Since you are using Diamond polishing system, let the Diamond work for you.

Question : How much water shall I use for resin grits, Eng. Stone/Quartz Surfaces pad and Buff?

Answer : If the polishing surface is always wet, that is enough in general for resin grits. However, a general rule is more water for coarser resin grits than finer resin grits. When working with Buff or Eng. Stone/Quartz Surface pad, you don’t need to feed water continuously. You wet the surface then work with slurry. When the slurry is getting dry on the surface, release water a little bit to wet the surface.