Joined: Sun Dec 16, 2012 9:18 pm Posts: 259 Location: Pennsylvania
Gearloose wrote:
It seems that when people get a Diamatrix, they then reserve the Matrix for oxide use. The higher fractal dimension of the Matrix loves to retain oxides. The Chemistry is better for oxides, too. For example, I doubt anything could beat Matrix/Chrome Oxide for sunstone.
I haven't tried it since the green CrOx is messy...but the Matrix with cerium oxide is super fast with sunstone and such a glassy finish.
Which oxide do you recommend on it for quartz? Also, I have some nice sunstone on the way, I'll try one on the Matrix and one on the Diamatrix and see how it goes.
Joined: Sun Dec 16, 2012 9:18 pm Posts: 259 Location: Pennsylvania
loydb wrote:
Which oxide do you recommend on it for quartz? Also, I have some nice sunstone on the way, I'll try one on the Matrix and one on the Diamatrix and see how it goes.
Personally I prefer the cerium oxide BATTStik on the Matrix for quartz. I go right from cutting on a 1200 sintered lap to the Matrix with CerOx. I get a faster and finer finish than I get with a Diamatrix and 100K BlackStik on quartz. I've polished a table on a 20 x 16 mm amethyst that way with perfect results.
Joined: Wed Aug 24, 2011 11:48 am Posts: 584 Location: Odenton, Maryland
The zirconia battstik is specifically geared towards quartz, IIRC. Among traditional faceting oxides (cerium, AlOx, CrO (CrOx?)), cerium is generally considered the best for quartz.
Using Gearloose's CrOx Stik is incredibly easy and mess-free. I used it for some time on Darkside with excellent results and very little greenness anywhere. In fact, the Darkside holds it so well that I haven't even worn the tip off the Stik, though truth be told it probably was used for only a couple dozen stones before I switched to Greenway.
The Greenway has been my absolutely favorite polishing lap (GreenWing actually). I add a bit of the CrOx Stik to it with stubborn or large facets but very rarely.
And yes, I still haven't worn the tip off it yet. But my faceting productivity has been near zero the last year.
-Allan
_________________ Allan Aoyama http://www.omnifaceter.net <- Omnifaceter is back online!
FWIW, and it should be plenty, my first try at the Diamatrix was with a 30 x 22 Uruguayan amethyst (cushion). I tried the Zirconia with a little mist from a spray bottle, medium speed, from 1200 sintered. Insanely fast. Facets look like they are wet.
Since then, I really haven't found anything the Zirconia does not work well with. Amazing product!
Joined: Wed Oct 14, 2015 8:41 am Posts: 153 Location: Germany
being tempted by the concept of the diamatrix I am nevertheless concerned by cross contamination especially for the BATT only side.
And I wonder how I can polish a girdle for which I usually are on the very outside of the lap. Unless having something big on the dop the polishing area would be unreachable.
Only solution I see is to just let it remain on the pre polish state.
Joined: Tue Jul 02, 2013 9:00 am Posts: 1322 Location: Wylie Texas but in Alaska for a while
I keep a small band of 100,000 on the very edge of the back side of my diamatrix.
I also use the back with 13k and 100k. But I left a gap between the 13k and the edge, so I could keep it for polishing girdles.
That said, I often stop at the 13k stage and call it good enough. But for my wife's stuff, she gets the full 100k. Nieces and my daughter, 13k is good enough.
Joined: Wed Oct 14, 2015 8:41 am Posts: 153 Location: Germany
looking at the Gearlose site if I am not wrong the Diamatrix is a harder Matrix and the one with Matrix polishing area incorporated into a BATT is the Dominatrix.
Using a 8" disc what would be the min. angle to still reach the Matrix surface ? Or otherwise what is the diameter of the Matrix part (in mm if possible)
Joined: Tue Jun 12, 2007 6:41 pm Posts: 5534 Location: Massachusetts, USA
That early photo of the Dominatrix needs to be replaced. All Dominatrixes are made with the DIAmatrix center, for more versatility with the harder stones like sapphire, topaz, crysoberyl, and moissanite, though it is still useful for damond or oxides on softer stones.
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