Using the Tile Saw

• Putting a bullnose edge onto a stone tile is a two-part process. Once the tile has been cut down to the size it will be during installation, the bulk of the tile's edge can be removed with a tile saw.
  To do this, you will need a regular tile wet saw and a bullnose blade. The bullnose blade is shaped with a curve or indent on its side. When it is turning, this curve will shave off the edge and bulk of the tile and begin rounding the tile into the shape of a bullnose.
  To begin, unscrew the standard cutting blade from the saw, and tighten on the bullnose blade. Start the saw, and place the tile to be edged on the saw's table, so that the side to be bullnosed lines up with the curved section of the bullnose blade.
  Push the tile into the blade at a steady speed, and pull it toward you again. You may need to repeat this step multiple times, as each pass through the blade will refine the curve a little more. Test the stone tile you are bullnosing on a scrap piece first, checking the edge after each complete pass to see exactly how many passes the tile should make through the saw.
  Each stone is different; granite is much harder than limestone, for example, so the number of passes through the saw may vary.
  
  

Using the Angle Grinder

• Once the stone has had the bulk of the tile removed by the bullnose blade, you may wish to clean up the edge and put a high polish on it. If you're edging a tumbled marble or some types of honed limestone, the tile saw with a bullnose blade will probably be sufficient. If you are edging a polished stone or a very hard and dense stone, however, the angle grinder with a polishing pad is the next phase.
  Make sure that the angle grinder you use has variable speeds. Just like the number of passes through the tile saw will vary with the stone, so will the speed of the angle grinder. The softer the stone, the slower you can run the grinder.
  Fit a polishing pad onto the grinder, and begin moving it along the rounded edge of the tile. Keep the grinder moving at all times; holding it in one spot may take off too much stone and leave a mark behind.
  Move the grinder lengthwise over the stone's edge, and up and over the rounded section of the edge into the body of the tile. Again, depending on how soft the stone and how much of a shine you want to put on it, the length of time polishing may vary. Practice on a scrap piece of stone from the lot you are using until you find the right speed and length of polishing time.
  
  

Using a Polishing Sealer

• In some cases, even with an angle grinder, you may not get the kind of high-gloss finish you are after. In this case, you can apply a shine-enhancing sealer to the edge of the tile.
  This topical sealer is brushed on the tile with a foam paintbrush, left to sit for a few minutes and then buffed off with a lint-free cloth. The one danger to using a shine-enhancing sealer is in the case where the stone itself has a dull shine; the sealer is extremely high gloss and there may be a marked difference between the area the sealer was applied to and an area that has been left alone.
  Again, try this on a test piece before attempting to coat all the edges. The trick will be to apply the sealer evenly so that the finish is smooth, but in the case of extremely dense stones, this may be the best way to get a high gloss on the edge of the tile.