Ceramic Laps Charging
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Faceted stones |
How would you charge a ceramic lap?
To do this properly, you need to hold the lap by the rim and hole in the middle; you would still feel its warmth from hot water.
Give it a few minutes to cool down, letting any residue moisture evaporate.
Apply three to four drops of the oil you prefer on your lap using a diamond extender. However, if you have your diamond in a plastic jar, then using your finger will be helpful.
Put on the end of the container and get some on your finger. You can also apply some oil film on your finger to enable the diamond to stick to your finger.
Next is to apply your diamond-coated finger to one of the drops of oil you put on your lap earlier and smear it around. Repeat this exercise on all the other drops of oil and ensure you get an even grey diamond in the lap.
Don't use the machine to spin the lap and spread the diamond since oil and diamond sling off when tampered with. Also, try to apply too much or too little of the diamond on your lap since it will get wiped off after all.
Lastly, wipe off the diamond with a clean, dry paper towel until it looks clean. After this little process, a clean and white face will be visible on your lap, not oily or greyish.
Avoid leaving any bit of diamond on your lap as it might turn into a residue if not wiped off properly.
How Often Should You Charge Your Ceramic Laps?
Charging ceramic laps has got to do with some factors to consider, such as the size and type of the substance you are cutting or polishing, the brand of your ceramic laps, and the grade of the diamond you use.
But surely, after 10-14 stones isn't bad to charge up your ceramic laps. It is just good to do it when you feel you are not getting the best results, it is a clear sign that your lap needs charging.
How do you use a ceramic lap?
To get the best out of a ceramic lap, use powdered graphite and alcohol (about an ounce) and a little pump spray bottle. Add 1/4 of a teaspoon of graphite to the alcohol and mix it to get a black substance.
In this case, the graphite will be the lubricant that will prevent the ceramic lap from squealing as this kind of lap is good at it, especially when it is new.
Don't worry because graphite is easy to wipe off your facet, just like those other oil lubes.
Next, spray the graphite all over your lap and wipe it off using a lint-free wipe and then gently and lightly apply your diamond spray (probably a thin Crystallite diamond in the spray bottle) evenly over the lap.
Do this every time your lap quits working, and every time your lap starts to squeal, apply some more graphite to reduce these issues. The graphite doesn't stop the squealing noise, completely but it sure helps.
Note:
Avoid using too much pressure on ceramic laps since heat building up in these kinds of laps can cause severe harm.
Add a bit of diamond extender, spread it around the lap, and later wipe it off if the cutting or polishing turns out to be slow.
Using the ceramic lap
It is required, in my view, to use a little bit more pressure if working on stones that are six MM or above and, of course, when using a Facetrone, which is not the case if you are using an ultra tech.
The reason is that the stone is hypothetical to snap off the dop due to that much pressure if you use the lever over the stone. Therefore, UT users should keep their fingers on the stone rather than the lever.
Requirements for this exact procedure
Use falcon 8" on one ceramic lap
One 2 oz bottle Crystalite 100,000 diamond spray plus one two oz bottle Italdo 200,000 diamond spray.
1 Norbide stick by Nortion
You can choose one tube from either Super Lube by Permatec (Loctite) or Radio Shack catalogue number 64-2326, the same company in the US for both manufacturers.
A safety razor blade
Bounty paper towels and a box of Kleenex
A 2oz bottle full of alcohol
Take an empty 2 oz bottle, add half the Italdo with crystallite and fill them up with alcohol.
The 100,00 will give you a superb polish, but if you are in a bit of competition, 200,000 will work better.
For facet inspection on a new lap, fold up a kleenex to about two inches square and carefully tear a sheet of paper towel into four pieces, sprinkle just a bit of water to get it slightly wet, and be sure not to overget it too ringing wet.
On the tip of your finger, add a dab of lube about the size of BB. Now apply little dots from the hub to the rim in about five rows that should take only six dots in a single row.
Spread the lube over the lap for about 15 seconds using the razor blade at a slow speed of around 50 rpm; clean the razor blade using one fold of your folded Kleenex. Get the diamond spray and give it a fast burst straightly pointed at the lap; that should happen at about 10-15 inches above the lap.
While the lap is turning, use your finger below the Kleenex and rub the lap in a discordance motion about 4-5 times. Working with new ceramic laps isn't easy, especially when just breaking into them. It needs time, and I would advise you to use a Norbide stick with hard pressure to work it to and from then change to polishing synthetic corundum and going back to Norbide again.
You will love polishing corundum on ceramic laps since it's the easiest substance you will ever come across while using ceramic laps.
When you finally grasp the policy of charging a ceramic lap, the hardest part waiting for you is too much diamond; it eats up most of your time. You'll find many scratching issues during this process, but you can use a Norbide stick and work it to and from as you did when breaking in the lap, which will help work out the contamination.
If the scratches happen again, try recharging to get the swarf that might have built up on the lap to prevent unnecessary scratching.
You shouldn't over-worry yourself if you are just starting.
It needs time and lots of exercising after you gain the experience, you gain the ability to sense scratching before they even happen.
Sometimes, you can use the 2oz alcohol bottle for recharging by spraying it on the lap while turning and wiping it with the tissue and charging as before. You need this whole process to bring value to a worn-out lap.
You should be aware of heat building; you can always use a wet towel to keep the stone cool. Stones tend to get hot if the sweeping you do is more than three times (Properly Charging Ceramic Laps , n.d.).
Reference:
Retrieved July 22, 2022, from https://www.gemsociety.org/article/advice-properly-charging-ceramic-laps/
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