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Faceting Supplies: Below you will see a selection of some of the supplies and equipment used in Faceting. If you do not see what you are looking for or require more information about anything please contact us at info@worldwidegems.co.nz If you require more information about any products we have listed please see below a list of the websites we are distributors for. We can also order anything you require from these suppliers although shipments of orders are subject to practicalities of having sufficient size/quantity to satisfy supplier minimum orders. For Batt Laps information and technical details from Gearloose Lapidary: www.gearloose.com For Crystalite products and information : www.abrasive-tech.com/crystalite.aspx For Raytech products and information: www.raytech-ind.com |
| Preforming Laps: | For fast removal/grinding away of surplus material use either 80 grit (fastest), 180, 260 or 360 laps. These course laps will have to be followed by finer grit sized laps sizes of 600 or 1200 (slowest) to prepare surface for fine smoothing and pre-polishing or polishing. In many cases you will be able to go directly from a 1200 lap to pre-polish or even polishing. Either use a solid lap or a topper lap with a master lap as a support for preforming or rough shaping. Obviously the lap grit size should be chosen relative to the amount of material that needs to be removed. Remember that a coarse grit will leave deeper grinding marks that must be totally smoothed/ removed before polishing is attempted. Crystalite: The Standard brand diamond discs (laps) are used by professional cutters worldwide and are excellent for faceting. They are designed to exceed the most rigid requirements. The aluminium backs are ground flat and parallel to exacting standards. Additionally, all the Standard brand discs are made with 100% diamond and bonded with a hard electroplated nickel. (They are also available by special order with a 8 inch-20 thread screw back mount, allowing you to utilize the full face of the disc.) Other diameters, mesh sizes and arbour hole sizes are available. Crystalite is one of the brands marketed by the worlds leading manufacturer of grinding and polishing products, Abrasive Technology. Economy Brand: These are products that are manufactured in Asia to a decent standard but not as high as the branded, international multinational corporations. They are designed to be a less costly alternative to the top brands. The old adage applies..you get what you pay for.. and generally the economy brands will not have the same degree of precision or longevity. However, they are well priced and good value for the money but you should not expect the same level of life from these products. Note these are more abrasive than same grit Crystalite. Nu-Bond by Raytech: *** NOTE NO LONGER BEING MADE *** NuBond is a very effective pre-polish facet lap. A NuBond lap requires little if any break-in to produce smooth finishes. Compared to an electrobond lap, it will scratch less and will cut more consistently over a longer service life. Multilayer NuBond laps have a higher concentration of friable, self-sharpening diamond bonded directly to a solid aluminum backer. NuBond laps are precise and true running, lightweight and corrosion resistant. Important: To replace an electrobond lap, select a NuBond which is one grit coarser than the electrobond. Even though coarser, NuBond will scratch and chip less. So a 325 grit NuBond replaces a 600 Electrobond, a 600 NuBond replaces a 1200 Electrobond and a 1200 NuBond replaces a 3000 Electrobond. |
There are currently no products under this category. There are currently no products under this category. | Polishing Laps and Supplies: | There are many different options available when polishing gems. We are listing some we use below but can source other options for you if required. Tin laps are charged with either a diamond slurry or a selected oxide compound such as cerium oxide, chrome oxide etc. With Tin laps it is obviously better to choose one option and stick to it so as to avoid cross-contamination of differing polishes. We carry and represent the following Tin Lap manufacturers. Crystalite Tin Laps manufactured by Abrasive Technology in the U.S.A. Batt Laps Tin and cast alloy Laps manufactured by Gearloose Lapidary In the U.S.A. If you want a little more flexibility Ultralaps are thin, flexible plastic polymers pre-charged with applicable polishing compounds. These are placed on top of a master lap and run with a water drip. The most common types of Ultralaps and usages are shown below:
- Spectra Ultralaps (high purity Cerium Oxide)- Good for final polish on Quartz family gems and Beryl
- Cerium Oxide-will polish Quartz, Opal, Tourmaline, beryl and some soft stones like Sunstone
- Alumina Oxide-will polish Beryl, Tourmaline, Garnet, Topaz, Peridot, Danburite etc.
- Tin Oxide-most cabbing materials, glass and materials containing Quartz, Tourmaline, garnet and Sphene.
Some other polishing options which we stock are: - Darkside laps: These are made by Jon Rolfe of Gearloose Lapidary and are rapidly gaining popularity among faceters. This lap was created to combat rising metal prices and to create an affordable easy to charge and use lap. These are great performers and are especially effective for Quartzes when used with Cerium Oxide.
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There are currently no products under this category. There are currently no products under this category. | Master Lap: | Master Laps are designed to be used as a base/support for either thin 1mm topper laps used in preforming or the flexible thin polishing laps such as Ultralaps. |
There are currently no products under this category. There are currently no products under this category.
| Miscellaneous: |
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Assorted faceting and cutting supplies. |
There are currently no products under this category. There are currently no products under this category.
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