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 Post subject: CORIAN LAPS
PostPosted: Sat Mar 22, 2008 9:33 pm 
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I just wanted to know if anyone has tried a corian lap?
I just got one and charged it with TREWAX - CLEAR- caranuba
then put a quick spray of GEM LUBE extender, and then put a little bit of 50,000 diamond dust.

Boy, the results were awesome. I polished a sapphire out of Logan creek, montana beyond brilliant.
I couldnt believe how well these corian laps polish.
I was running at fast speeds (about 6)
it took about 5 seconds hand time to polish each facet.
Really quick.
I dont think they are making these laps anymore, atleast kinglsey north or alpha isnt carrying them.
They are the best i have used so far. I hear these new aerospace plastic lightning laps are a wonder. I guess you can cross charge these with all kinds of different diamond sizes and they dont contaminate. Of course you have to wash them. Check them out at http://lightninglap.com/
REGARDS
M.L.


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PostPosted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 4:31 am 
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anyone have any experience w/ lightening laps?? I was reading about them on the usfg listserv.. curious how you all like them..

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PostPosted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 12:08 pm 
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I've used both Corian and the newish Lightning Lap. Both worked well for me, although I don't have that much time in on the LL. I used the corian with 60K diamond spray to polish corundum, but don't use it much now since the Batt is generally my "go to" polishing lap. Corian and others I tend to use when I run into a problem stone that doesn't respond to my normal sequence. The LL was fast and efficient the few times I've used it, and I'll be experimenting with it some more. It definitely feels harder than the corian, and it polished faster than corian.

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 Post subject: Corian Lap Source
PostPosted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 6:19 am 
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Try Roy Wikman of the Columbia Willamette Faceters Guild at wikman@hevanet.com He has 8 inch laps for $25 or 6 inch laps for $20. Please don't take these prices as gospel they are quoted from Lapidary Arts Digest December 2003. Comparatively speaking they are very cheap anyway.

I bought two from him and found him very obliging. I live in the UK and he shipped them to my brother-in-law in Napa Ca. no bother.

Agatepete.


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 Post subject: Lightning Lap
PostPosted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 11:36 pm 
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I've recently purchased a lightning lap. One side has cerium oxide imbedded and the other allows you to populate it with whatever you want to use. In my case this was 100K diamond.

I've used the CeO side with additional CeO to good effect. I prefer it to the ultralap on tin that I've used in the past.

The other side with 100K diamond has worked very well for me as well. There is a bit of heat build up but that has not been a problem. I think it is much better than a BATT, but not quite as good as my favorite ceramic. I probably will not use my BATT again.

I highly recommend the LL.

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PostPosted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 8:46 am 
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Bruce,

I'll be happy to take your BATT if you don't need it. A properly charged BATT is a wonderful thing...


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 Post subject: corian laps
PostPosted: Wed Apr 16, 2008 1:37 am 
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Well, here is another twist to the corian laps. Does anyone else have any experience with corian laps and John Baileys "VooDoo Polish?"
www.gemstoneartist.com


Curious since it is advertised as being the best thing since sliced bread but my own experience has been less than stisfactory. My laps were obtained from Roy Wilkman. One thing I dislike in particualr is the oily residue left on the stone. This make it's hard to inspect the facet as the residue can hide problems.

Perhaps since I learned using Oxide polishes this method is throwing me a curve. For one, I LOVE Dick Walker's alumina suspension polish sold through John Franke's shop.

Let me know your experiences.

good meets to you all,
Steve
www.stevesstones.com


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PostPosted: Wed Apr 16, 2008 10:06 am 
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Steve,
When I use something that leaves an oily residue, I keep either a Q-Tip or a small piece of lint-free paper towel handy. I dip it in denatured alcohol and use it to wipe the facets for inspection. It cleans off any gunk and lets you see what's going on, and really takes no more time than wiping with anything else. Not too much alcohol though, just dampen whatever you use or you might risk damaging your dop-stone connection.

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 Post subject: corian laps
PostPosted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 1:54 pm 
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I dont know how anyone could dislike the corian laps. I havent had any problems with an oily residue build up on the corian lap. They are soft enough to polish fluorite and hard enough to polish corundum. I have purchased my diamond powder from Best cut gems. The 50,000 and 100,000 diamond offered through this company seems to be expectionally pure and of the highest quality, albeit being fairly expensive. I have tried the 50,000 diamond powder boart from alpha and kingsley north and have been disgusted with their material, it seems like the big companies will buy bulk amounts of the halfed assed stuff to sell to the public. My formula gives crisp,flat, and highly polished and scratch free surfaces on all facets and material i have tried, which is a thin film of Caranuba clear trewax applied to the lap surface, a periodic spray of the silicon extender gem lube and then a light pinch of the diamond lightly rubbed onto the lap surface while its turning at about 5 1/2 or 6 speed. I wont use any oxides or slurries, nor will i touch batt laps, i am 150 percent diamond for all my future polishing undertakings.


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 Post subject: Lightning laps
PostPosted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 9:30 am 
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So on the lightning laps does everyone use oil still or does just the carnuba wax suffice for lubrication?

I HATE oil and oil based lubricants with the mess they make which is one reason I am not a fan of diamond polishes in general so if this worked well with just the wax or maybe with water in addition ot th diamond powder it would be great.

What is people's experience?

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PostPosted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 12:48 pm 
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John,

I absolutely love my Lightning Lap. I've used it with oxides only so far and it's rapidly replacing my tin lap, used the same way. It might not be flat enough for some but it gives me fast, easy polishes on the garnet, tourmaline and quartzes I've experimented with so far. I've used it with optical grade cerium (quartz) and Linde A. A great new tool!

I've used Corian for several years, with the old Merrill O. Murphy Trewax method. I've used it with both oxides and diamond. It's given me good flat facets with both methods but as of this date (always subject to change!) I using the LL more. For harder stones like spinel and corundum I like BATT but I've polished both nicely on Corian too.

So many laps, so little time...

[John, after posting I realized I didn't respond to your basic question. I've used a very slow water drip on both the LL and Corian with good results, but there are probably as many methods as there are cutters. I've found a little water on Corian with carnauba doesn't hurt and keeps things cooler.]

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PostPosted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 4:26 pm 
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Hi, I've a newbie question about polishing with the corian lap...

How do you use the corian lap with oxides?
I tried it but it seems much slower compared to Ultralaps... I polish from a 1200 mesh cutting lap. I have the lap scored. I tried it on different species: quartz, tourmaline, garnet with both (not at the same time, of course :) ) CeO2 and Al2O3 polishes.

I'm wondering if I'm using enough polishing powder in the "slurry", or maybe it's a speed issue (with corian I use slower speed)... Polishing the same material with ultralaps it's really much faster (for softer materials it can take less than 5 seconds), so I have to find what I'm doing wrong... :?

I'd be mostly interested in knowing how you use it with Al2O3 for garnet and tourmaline, the mineral I've had most trouble to polish (I can actually polish them quite well with a ultralap charged with Al2O3... but I'd like to learn how to use the corian, for now). How much polishing compound you use, speed, what kind of pre-polish, etc.

Polishing it's definitely my weak(est) spot... :evil:

Thank You


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PostPosted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 5:20 pm 
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Maialetto,

No guarantees but here's my method (first described to me by the late well known faceter and gem prospector, Merrill O. Murphy):

Get a tin of Trewax. It's a carnauba-based floor wax sold by Tru Value Hardware stores, I think. I've heard other carnauba-based waxes will work but haven't tried them.

Apply a small amount of wax to the lap with a clean cloth, spreading it around over the lap surface. Sprinkle a *small* amount of optical grade cerium oxide over the lap and use a clean sponge or fingertip to mix them together until the dark cerium can be seen all across the lap's surface. Then wait an hour or so for the wax to set.

Then buff the wax with a dry cloth just as if you were polishing wood. You want just a thin coating. With the lap rotating slowly, start a slow water drip. The lap should move just fast enough to "grab" a little when the stone is polishing. Too much friction will remove the wax/cerium mixture quickly. Too little water will cause the stone to heat; too much will allow the stone to skid over the surface. Some people report excellent results with this method; others prefer the same approach but use diamond up to 200K instead.

Repeat the process as necessary.

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PostPosted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 6:29 pm 
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ROM wrote:
Maialetto,

Apply a small amount of wax to the lap with a clean cloth, spreading it around over the lap surface. Sprinkle a *small* amount of optical grade cerium oxide over the lap and use a clean sponge or fingertip to mix them together until the dark cerium can be seen all across the lap's surface. Then wait an hour or so for the wax to set.

Then buff the wax with a dry cloth just as if you were polishing wood. You want just a thin coating. With the lap rotating slowly, start a slow water drip. The lap should move just fast enough to "grab" a little when the stone is polishing. Too much friction will remove the wax/cerium mixture quickly. Too little water will cause the stone to heat; too much will allow the stone to skid over the surface. Some people report excellent results with this method; others prefer the same approach but use diamond up to 200K instead.

Repeat the process as necessary.


Thanks for the tips!

Further questions, does this carnuba work on most kinds of laps? I wanted to test it before getting a lightning lap.

How long does a charge last?

Why is this method with a lightning lap better than Linde A on tin?

How about large facets, does it work well? I polish a lot of LARGE facets.

What kind of pressure do you put on the gem?

I am just full of question aren't I? But thanks a ton for the info given so far!

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PostPosted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 6:32 pm 
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ROM wrote:

[John, after posting I realized I didn't respond to your basic question. I've used a very slow water drip on both the LL and Corian with good results, but there are probably as many methods as there are cutters. I've found a little water on Corian with carnauba doesn't hurt and keeps things cooler.]


So you are saying it is just the wax and water, no oil, no wd40 no extender no nothing. (I would rather this was the case) that must make inspection of each facet's polish easier right? Or is the carnuba wax gummy and hard to wipe off?

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Artisitic and designer cut gems

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