Post by sparkles on Dec 13, 2008 18:00:34 GMT -5
Hi Folks,
I love my little Inland flat lap, I’ve been using it for a little while and thought you’d be interested in this minor adaptation which has given me a much nicer finish on my cabochons. It’s a straight through Diamond Polishing System, no more messy Cerium Oxide polish for me and it only costs a few quid!!
The machine came with a sequence of steel flat laps with diamonds embedded in the surface. Wonderful for shaping flats and cutting the bevels on my stones, but not so great for polishing domes and curves. So I had a long hard think and this is what I came up with.
I used 5 “Rez-Discs” which are canvas pads impregnated with some form of plasticiser and self adhesive on one side. They are relatively cheap and I got mine from Manchester Minerals (UK), I also bought some diamond pastes in the following grain sizes - 30 micron, 10, 3, 1 and 1/4 micron respectively, and a can of lap fluid. I also used some cheap cork floor tiles I had lurking in the shed. Total cost was about £30 - £35, about the cost of a single steel lap.
I marked and cut out a set of discs on the floor-tiles using the master lap as a template, the tiles are cork and consequently have a fairly soft pliable surface, but enough rigidity to hold their shape and spin smoothly on the machine when fitted. The small amount of give in the surface is what helps to smooth the cabs as they smooth and polish.
2 minutes of additional sanding with a bit of sandpaper and the blanks are ready to be stuck together and charged.
The rez-discs are stuck on the blanks, and the holes cut out for the spindle. Most importlantly, use a pen and mark the back of the pads with their diamond grades. To charge the pad, squeeze about 1/3rd - 1/2 a gram of the diamond paste, trying to keep it evenly spread around the main usable area of the disc. Use a little lap fluid to help spread it around evenly, and finally store appropriately, avoiding any chance of cross contamination. Tadaa - a set of cheap disposable diamond pads to take the stones from shaped to gleaming in 5 easy steps.
My cutting sequence now runs from my slabbed and shaped pre-form dopped and ready for doming, 325 steel lap to cut the bevels, and the 600 to round and smooth the shape as far as possible. Then I swap to the 30 micron pad and even out the dome, taking off the high spots and smoothing the shape, then the 10, 3, 1 and 1/4 to go from satin to gleaming! Easy as!
600 Steel Lap to Diamond Polished 1/4 micron.
Hope this helps some of you get a little more from your Inland gadjit, it may be an amateur hobby device, but it’s a lot of fun and the results can be very pleasing if you have the time. Have Fun!
Cheers,
Sparkles.
I love my little Inland flat lap, I’ve been using it for a little while and thought you’d be interested in this minor adaptation which has given me a much nicer finish on my cabochons. It’s a straight through Diamond Polishing System, no more messy Cerium Oxide polish for me and it only costs a few quid!!
The machine came with a sequence of steel flat laps with diamonds embedded in the surface. Wonderful for shaping flats and cutting the bevels on my stones, but not so great for polishing domes and curves. So I had a long hard think and this is what I came up with.
I used 5 “Rez-Discs” which are canvas pads impregnated with some form of plasticiser and self adhesive on one side. They are relatively cheap and I got mine from Manchester Minerals (UK), I also bought some diamond pastes in the following grain sizes - 30 micron, 10, 3, 1 and 1/4 micron respectively, and a can of lap fluid. I also used some cheap cork floor tiles I had lurking in the shed. Total cost was about £30 - £35, about the cost of a single steel lap.
I marked and cut out a set of discs on the floor-tiles using the master lap as a template, the tiles are cork and consequently have a fairly soft pliable surface, but enough rigidity to hold their shape and spin smoothly on the machine when fitted. The small amount of give in the surface is what helps to smooth the cabs as they smooth and polish.
2 minutes of additional sanding with a bit of sandpaper and the blanks are ready to be stuck together and charged.
The rez-discs are stuck on the blanks, and the holes cut out for the spindle. Most importlantly, use a pen and mark the back of the pads with their diamond grades. To charge the pad, squeeze about 1/3rd - 1/2 a gram of the diamond paste, trying to keep it evenly spread around the main usable area of the disc. Use a little lap fluid to help spread it around evenly, and finally store appropriately, avoiding any chance of cross contamination. Tadaa - a set of cheap disposable diamond pads to take the stones from shaped to gleaming in 5 easy steps.
My cutting sequence now runs from my slabbed and shaped pre-form dopped and ready for doming, 325 steel lap to cut the bevels, and the 600 to round and smooth the shape as far as possible. Then I swap to the 30 micron pad and even out the dome, taking off the high spots and smoothing the shape, then the 10, 3, 1 and 1/4 to go from satin to gleaming! Easy as!
600 Steel Lap to Diamond Polished 1/4 micron.
Hope this helps some of you get a little more from your Inland gadjit, it may be an amateur hobby device, but it’s a lot of fun and the results can be very pleasing if you have the time. Have Fun!
Cheers,
Sparkles.