James,
You didn't mention what type of marble you are working with, the below technique will work well with most but keep in mind certain marbles blacks,greens,botticinos,etc will need the technique tweaked somewhat.
We use a technique shown to me by Lorne at Fabraclean years ago that works well in the type of tight areas your working with. The technique involves using 3,4 or 5 inch pad drivers with white pad cutouts to match the pad drivers(prefer 3m super polish 4100). Mask the moldings and try using the 4" pad driver tight as you can along the moulding without damaging the molding.
I wouldn't think there would be much abrasion in these areas so you should be able to use this technique without using diamonds.
If there is some wear hit it with a 400 grit diamond and polish from there.
You put a pinch down of polishing powder(adjustments will be necessary)(works with 5x or diaglo but works best with MB-12) then wet only the powder. Set your makita on the #1 speed and place it on top of the wet powder.Applying significant pressure on a predetermined course move the makita back and forth along a 6 inch line. In most cases you will get a good reflection right at the start but once the pad gets loaded you will get excellent results quickly possibly without even using diamonds. You should practice a little first but once you get the concept it will be a welcomed addition to your practice.  
You will see some swirls and marks made during the technique. They can usually be removed by putting a clean white 5 inch pad on, turning up the speed to 6 on the makita.Spray a very light mist of water and quickly buff off any residue or swirls. This technique works great at the transition points of floors changing from stone to wood or another material you don't want to or cant hit with diamonds. It works wonders at the end of a floor where there is a saddle and there are always marks or streaks that need to be fixed. It also works great on counter tops and tub surrounds when you see a unpolished edge or an annoying picture frame right under the window in the middle of the tub surround.
It is possible to do this after honing the floor, polish all the edges and hard to reach areas first.Then polish the rest of the floor with your floor machine and have it all blend together. 
I hope I explained this well enough.  
Please feel free to email or call me anytime if I can help. 
On Mon, Feb 21, 2011 at 2:22 PM, Mike Marsoun <nulifesc@bigpond.com> wrote:

I always keep a 3” backer pad so I can use the floor machine diamonds for small areas like this.  You can also use it to drive the center punch outs for your 17” coated floor pads, twister/eco/spinflex

 

From: Kris Dougherty [mailto:kris@marblefloorsandmore.com]
Sent: Tuesday, February 22, 2011 5:34 AM
To: Restoration and Maintenance
Subject: RE: [sccpartners] Marble Polishing Detail Work

 

I had great luck with the 800 twister pads too.

On 2/21/2011 11:53 AM, Fred Hueston wrote:

You are correct my friend,,it will be all hand work..The good news is you can get back pads from 1 inch to 8 inches. 

 

 

On Mon, Feb 21, 2011 at 12:46 PM, James Billeaudeau <james@diamondmarblepolishing.com> wrote:

Hi All,

 

I've just completed polishing a test area for a customer who has 500 sq ft of marble flooring that has been waxed for almost 30 years with acrylic floor wax.  Needless to say, after removing the wax buildup and honing and polishing a test area, the difference was like day and night and they would like the entire floor done.  The test area was at a rectangular front door entrance bordered by a wood floor on two sides with a wooden T-molding border.  About an inch or so from the T-molding and at the 90 degree angles I wasn't able to hone or polish very well.  You could see picture framing in the corners and about a one inch line along the T-molding where I couldn't overlap with the diamond pads or polishing powder.  All suggestions on how to handle these area most efficiently would be appreciated.  There are many more 90 degree angles and areas under kitchen cabinets that may pose the same problem.  I do have a makita and 5" diamonds and understand that all this may be handwork, but some of the angles may be too small even for the 5" diamonds.  Is there a smaller backer pad that we could use with 3" diamonds?  I'm not aware to this yet, and if so, I must get one.  This is my first "major" job and any help would be appreciated. 

 

Thanks a million,

 

James

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Fax - 314.298.1227

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