I've been trying out the new Adamas laps for a little while now, and I'm really happy with the results. I have all three now, but have only used the general cutting lap (what I call the most coarse, the M32) and M12 for cutting in facets. I have the M9 too, but's it's for softer materials and I've spent the last couple of weeks working on synthetic sapphire for a project.
The results worked out pretty well by my standards:
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A 'new' cut I designed on GemRej as an experiment.
These were all cut from cheap flame fusion material, which I had significant problems with... but I had problems on any lap I tried, so I don't think it related to the new laps (and I tried everything in my arsenal). The two reds were from the same boule, and had different problems for each one, the two blues from different boules (from different suppliers), one with a very thin blue layer, and one much thicker - both had different problems too.
All the pieces were dopped initially with wax, then roughed out with a 180 ripple lap - leaving a bunch of material behind for the next step:
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After that the M32 was sued to cut in the base facets - there were some issues with directional hardness even at this stage. Following Tom's advice on another thread, and changing the angle of attack helped a bunch.
The main cutting of facets and meets (well, attempting to get meets) was done with the finer lap (M12).
There were definitely some problems at this stage, but IO'm 99% sure it was the material and not the laps (facets with issues, also showed issues at the pre-polish/polish stage, and with differently pre-polish/polish laps)
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Generally speaking though, the facets cut in a lot quicker than anything else I've tried that produces a comparable finish. That's the trade off I guess - cutting in facets with BATT/3k which I've done in the past - well it leaves a great finish, but takes all day to cut in half a sapphire.
I found it much more precise cutting in an initial crown tier on the M12 than on anything I'd tired before. I always but a chain girdle to lock in my cheater after transfer - and found that the sharpness of the edges and meets produced by the Mq12 made that a faster an more accurate process (the lap is also incredibly flat and well balanced).
Cutting in the table with the M12 was a breeze, and left a finish that pre-polished very quickly.
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I used two pre-polish laps basically - on different sides of different stones, all kinds of combinations. A dominatrix (3k on BATT, 50k on the diamatrix), and a new DiaZ+ (firewater outer, 100k on the diamatrix).
All told - I like these new Adamas laps a lot (I do *not* like the DiaZ+ , which surprised me since I love the Dominatrix). They sped up my process.
As a side note: I had previously tried to purchase a sintered lap from Inland, and after no lap, no response to e-mail / calls, I eventually had to call my credit card company and get a refund (Inland never responded to them either). In contrast, Tom kept me up to date on where the laps were, etc, so I'd highly recommend from not just a functionality perspective, but the fact that the supplier actually seems to care about keeping his customer happy!
Joined: Thu Jun 03, 2010 1:49 pm Posts: 331 Location: South Africa
Nice result you have there for your efforts. Seems to be a winning combination.
As far as difficult polishing goes, my worst experiences have been with flame fusion boules, either corundum or spinel. I'd rather work with something like Fluorite before a piece from a bad boule.
I have some blue spinel that after many attempts and various combinations will only polish by going from 600 grit on copper to Alox on Lead/tin.
Joined: Mon Aug 20, 2012 11:32 pm Posts: 1747 Location: Florida, United States
I appreciate this review. I want to mention the importance of proper maintenance of Adamas diamond wheels. I strongly recommend cleaning the cutting surface with Lava soap after each session of use. Do not dress the wheel until the cutting action slows down, which can take months or years, and please use the particular aluminum oxide dressing stick Adamas sells, only because a silicon carbide dressing stick can ruin the surface. I have issued an advice paper here: http://adamasfacet.com/pdfs/AdamasWheels.pdf
I engineered these wheels very differently than what has been sold to the gem cutting market before. I explain that in greater detail in my advice paper linked above.
Joined: Mon Aug 20, 2012 11:32 pm Posts: 1747 Location: Florida, United States
justinkprim wrote:
I've been wanting a pre polish sintered lap so I hope I can save up for one of these this year!
Hi Justin, Whether the 12M or 9M would be appropriate for prepolishing would depend on the material you are working with and your techniques. I am working on a resin-bonded diamond wheel exclusively for girdle faceting and prepolishing. I expect results for that within two months.
The cutting lap I have been running at 800-1000rpm, with a lot of water, and the 8+ Mohs (12M) at 400-500rpm. Lots of water! Not the kind of drip I would run on a 'dry' BATT. Water is definitely my friend on these, and the lava soap too (I bought it in bulk from Amazon, sorry Tom). Remove a lot of material with the finer laps (not really the goal here) and maybe a lava soap clean can be useful during a cutting session rather than just at the end.
The finer 12M lap was a bit of a balance - too fast and too much water = some combination of a shower & hydropalting a large facet. But too little water was definitely a problem also. I presume the 9M (lower than 8 mph stones).
It's like, too much gin and cutting is not a good idea - meets tend to be a problem after a four martini lunch (real martinis are gin based). Same thing sorta, just the right amount of gin makes everything ok. Just the right amount of water & speed makes everything ok with this lap too.
Joined: Mon Aug 20, 2012 11:32 pm Posts: 1747 Location: Florida, United States
Jclimactic wrote:
It's like, too much gin and cutting is not a good idea - meets tend to be a problem after a four martini lunch (real martinis are gin based). Same thing sorta, just the right amount of gin makes everything ok. Just the right amount of water & speed makes everything ok with this lap too.
Joined: Mon Aug 20, 2012 11:32 pm Posts: 1747 Location: Florida, United States
I have just done some of my own initial testing of a new version of the Twistor lap on a natural sapphire. Here is what I observed on this stone:
The facets are not as flat as with the 12 micron Adamas sintered diamond lap as a result of hard metal compared to hard polymer surfaces. The cutting action lasts longer than on the Twistor as the diamond concentration is double that of the original Twistor. After cutting facets on the 12M sintered diamond lap, this new lap prepolishes those very quickly. As with other cutting laps on corundum, I do notice that some lapping directions produce a more desirable finish than do others.
Joined: Tue Jul 02, 2013 9:00 am Posts: 1322 Location: Wylie Texas but in Alaska for a while
$@#%@#$%#T%
I really liked my twister, but it did slow after initial testing. Several peole in the group I was in likes it so much that they wanted to order one, but they were to late.
I am glad to hear that they may be able to get one soon.
If I were still working, I would plan on buying one, but that may have to wait a while.
Financially things are improving for my daughter, in a few months she will be financially independent again, which is good. But it still took a lot of the reserves that I had been using for my hobbies. (Not complaining, there is no choice, family always comes first.)
When it is available, I will let the group know, maybe one of them will be able to buy one, and I can try theirs.
I would have never dreamed of cutting facets with Batt and 3K diamond, other than maybe a very very very small facet. For sapphire after roughing in with a coarse lap, I'd do all my finished cutting with a 600 sintered lap.
For my taste, if any facet takes more than 15 to 30 seconds to cut, it means I am using too fine a grit. I like most facets to cut in a just a few seconds on the lap.
I really don't use 3K diamond, for me, 8000 makes a good prepolish and leaves a surface that polishes a little quicker than 3K.
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