SHARKNOSE EDGE ON QUARTZ WORKTOPS

Sharknose Edge in my kitchen? What does that even mean?

Kitchen design is split two ways at the moment: traditional and contemporary. The massive demand for marble-look quartz worktops on Shaker and other classic joinery style kitchen units seems set to stay, and yet the slab-doored, high-gloss, handleless, minimalistic look also seems to be a fixture in the UK market. Big blocks of colour (very often white) with smooth colour, granular or sparkly quartz worktops – you know the hallmarks of the style. Very frequently, contemporary kitchens have thinner quartz worktops – 20mm as opposed to 30mm.

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Contemporary kitchen – quartz worktops – standard “square” edge profile

Contemporary kitchens sometimes have handles on the doors – see our case study here – but frequently are “handleless”. As you open the door or drawer, your fingers either slot into a space in the cabinet behind what you are pulling out, or there is a “J-profile” handle in the door/drawer itself. Either way, you want your fingers to enter easily and without obstruction.

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Slab door kitchen with the “handle” formed by the door itself

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J-profile doors

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J-profile drawers as fitted

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Contemporary kitchen with sharknose edge on the white quartz – a “floating effect” island too

A sharknose edge – or sharksnose edge – is a way of both making your quartz worktop look even thinner than it is, and of smoothing the way for your fingers to enter the “handle” of a “handleless” door without obstruction. The effect can be dramatic – the worktop can look wafer-thin, and almost floating above the unit, while the practical benefit in ease of opening is very real. We have seen the demand for sharknose edge worktops steadily rising over recent years.

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Quartzforms Absolute White Quartz with a sharksnose edge

A sharknose edge can be cut and polished by hand using one of our standard power polishing machines, but this is very time-consuming and therefore costly for our customers. In order to meet demand and be able to offer this service at a more realistic price, we have invested in a Ghines Sector Triplespeed Edge Detailing Machine. It was one of the investments that Andy made during his visit to last year’s industry show in Verona. 

The machine is now up and running, See the video below for one of our early tests – right from the off we were seeing usable results, with the sharknose edge being made to a high, consistent standard and beautifully polished.

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Ben our workshop manager, testing out the Ghines Sector Edge Profiler

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Handmade sharknose edge on the 20mm Cambria Berwyn quartz worktop in our showroom

So, if a contemporary kitchen is your thing, think about sharknose edging. It does cost extra, but not quite as much as it did when done entirely by hand! And by going for a 20mm thick quartz worktop you will make around 15% saving on material cost, which goes some way to offsetting the extra for the edge profile.

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For more information about sharknose edge worktops, or ANY other aspect of kitchen and worktop design, please get in touch! We have other articles which explain and comment on other edge profiles too. We are here to help and advise with accurate and honest information about all aspects of your kitchen makeover. 

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