Faceting Survey Results – Polishing – Comments

Below are a number of comments, instructions, and hints that I thought would be of interest.  Enjoy:)

Tin Lead lap with Linde A will polish more types of stone than any other, so I always try it first if a problem arises, The new Aluminum oxide Ultralaps work so well mounted on a diamond finishing lap for most of the stones I have cut recently, I have starteed using then mearly exclusively. I generally can polish all the facets of 6-or more stones of about .5-1 centimeter in size, before it is worn to the point I worry about slicing into it. A little CeO dampened around in the center and brought out to the polishing area with a finger wetted by water dripping on the outer edge of the lap is often used to maintain the polishing efficiency for stones like Beryl

I START WITH COLLOIDAL SILICA ON MOST MATERIALS. IF THERE IS A PROBLEM OR I THINK IT CAN LOOK BETTER I TRY DIAMOND (50 OR 100,000). IF I’M STILL CONCERNED I’LL TRY ONE OF THE STANDARDS (CEROX, ALOX,ETC…)

I charge my ceramic lap (Eastern Mineral) by putting 4 drops of  Super Lube, which I smothe over the…