Laps Treatment And Care

Fine lap

 Working with laps can be overwhelming, especially when you are just starting out. It is common to think that your laps are of poor quality or are just bad or something of the same kind, but in a real sense, the problem could be 70% as a result of the inexperience of the cutter. 

I will be talking about how you can care for and properly treat your laps, specifically steel laps, but the methods can also apply to other types of laps.

How can I take care of my laps?

• Avoid using comet cleaners to scrub your laps since this kind of cleaner has abrasives that might damage the plating of the lap faster.

•  Master the rule of coarser laps and fine laps; by this, I mean always make sure you cut with coarser laps and polish with fine laps or meet facets with finer laps. Using fine laps for cutting will wear them out much faster than they should.

• Avoid letting waste build up on your lap by running enough coolant or water. Use as much water as possible but not too much to get you wet and not too little to make little or no difference or ruin a lap faster than its actual time.

• Make sure you got the right grip lap for the right stone cutting, for example, cutting a rough stone like quartz with a 360 lap instead of 260 0r 100 grit lap.

• Ensure you clean off any cutting residue by thoroughly flushing your laps with enough water and letting them dry off completely after cutting.

• Always be gentle and careful when changing your laps; carefulness always pays.

• To get full control over your lap, always make sure the stone you are cutting is moving in a sweeping motion across the lap evenly.

• Avoid using too much pressure on your laps during cutting.

•  Applying so much pressure on your laps cuts faster for sure, but it does ruin the sharpness of your diamond by either pushing them inside or just making them blunt.

• Never forget to use a machine for spin-drying your laps properly before storing them, as this will create no room for any left residue to form on the lap.

So far, abiding by these rules will save you a lot of very severe troubles. I can't emphasize these enough. If you really care for the wellness of your laps, then live by these rules, and you will get no issues.

Things you should never do to your laps.

• Avoid using harmful chemicals/solvents and harmful steel to clean your laps.

• It would help if you never stored your laps when they are still wet. It will make them rust and ruin their effectiveness.

• Avoid cutting metallic things on your lap, which will damage it very quickly.

• Once again, using a lot of pressure on your lap is the most harmful act you can ever do them. It is so common. That is why I encouraged it quite a few more times to understand how bad it is for your laps.

• Be mindful of sparks when cutting. It means there is a lack of coolant or water. Quit cutting and apply water immediately when you see any bit of sparks on your lap. It can take the lap and stone at the same time.

• Never initialize your cutting process when the lap is completely dry.

• Use the space on your lap, focusing on one spot will create soft or damaged areas on your lap and cause it to wear out faster. Use the entire space on your lap to balance its safety,

• A bit of cautiousness is the king when caring for your laps. Avoid scratching, dropping, or damaging the face of your cutting lap.

Note:

Coarser laps tend to last longer than finer ones since they are much stronger and tougher.

Finer grits wear way faster since they are much more tender than coarser ones.

A broken-in lap cuts a bit finer than it did at first.

Most of the fine laps problems involve the manufacturers and production; their tenderness and fast wearing out isn't your fault. It would help if you didn't blame yourself for anything other than laps quitting to cut.

 If you are a beginner, avoid buying Bronze, solid Brass, and Aluminium laps since you don't need them. These laps don't work well even for experienced lapidaries and are not used by many people. I haven't heard any experts I know say they use these laps or even recommend them to anyone. You wouldn't want anything that isn't in use, would you? 

Laps Dressing:

An article (Laps Treatment and Care, n.d.) articulates that dressing laps involve waste and other residue clogging on your lap or other important lap parts to get your diamond cut properly and effectively. 

Lap dressing can be done using dressing sticks. 

However, not every lap dressing requires dressing sticks. Some laps, like NU Bond type of laps or polish laps, don't necessarily need the use of dressing sticks. Dressing sticks are only best for steel cap laps.

It is important to use the right dressing stick for the right grit of lap you are dressing and use average speed. Apply sufficient water and gently move the dressing stick evenly across the surface, a couple of times (2X). 

Finally, flush the lap with water and try cutting the stone again. If the results are not good, repeat the process to achieve your desired results.

The most common problem both new lapidaries and experienced ones seem to find is that the laps tend to quit cutting. Don't throw your laps away because everything you need to do to get your laps back at work has been written above. I have seen people changing the brand of the laps they use many times, only to encounter the very same similar problems. 

Jeff's Opinion on Laps (Laps Treatment and Care, n.d.)

Split Laps:- Split laps tend to be normally coarse(r) on the outside ring to prevent too much contamination when the lap is turning. During the turning process, the loose dust and diamonds move towards the edge on the outside of the lap on the lap itself, and there is a finer grit on the inside.

However, these laps have many disadvantages due to how they are manufactured. Firstly, the larger grit polishes often contaminate the finer grit since they are two different grits. They would be better if the style is changed.

Secondly, it is hard to use the fine part of the lap for the girdle of your stone since the coarse part of the lap is on the outside. It completely becomes a major problem when working.

Another problem is that you will eventually buy a fine lap because the hassle you get when fine cutting due to the coarse part being outside won't save you any money, so you need to buy a fine one. 

Solid Steel Laps:- These are very easy to work with and give almost no trouble at all. They are the kind of laps that every beginner should consider starting with. 

Extra coarse:- These laps aren't so bad, but I wouldn't recommend them to anyone since they create large visible chips and fractures on the stone when faceting something that you don't want to encounter during working time.

 

100x Diamond (extra coarse):- Well, this is the kind of lap I would recommend everyone to have. It effectively removes excess material from a rough piece, although it leaves some chips when still new. It is quite expensive, but if you don't have a lot of large or bigger stones to cut, you might not want to buy this lap.

180 Diamond (medium coarse):- This type of lap is among those between the 260 and the 100x, and yeah, it is a good lap, but I haven't seen many people with it; therefore, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. I would choose a 260 lap over a 180 Diamond one.

260 Diamond (coarse):- This is the lap I would love better when worn in a bit; I think it works better than a 360 lap. I use it during my standard roughing for fast cutting, leaving a good coarse finish.

360 Diamond (medium coarse):- I haven't used this lap and lack experience with it, though I know people who use it. They say it cuts much slower when worn in, so I wouldn't recommend this to anyone. I would still choose the 260 laps over this one.

600 Diamond (medium):- I usually work with this kind of lap when cutting quartz and beryl and then bring in the Nu Bond composite lap to pre-polish. But I prefer the worn 1200 steel lap without thinking about the 600 laps for other stones like tourmaline and garnets.

 

1200 Diamond (fine):- This is my all-time lap, and I know you might have noticed my obsession with worn-in laps, but I also like this one when worn a bit. They begin a little coarse, but that is fine because I use it on almost everything I cut except quartz and beryl. You wouldn't ask for any other lap.

3000 Diamond (extra fine):- This lap doesn't have a lot of extra hardness since the plating on it isn't sufficient, and it takes ages for this lap to wear well. But, yeah, you can have it with you if you want; they say experience is the best teacher so go for it.

What are phenolic laps?

Phenolic laps are the type of laps used specifically in polishing stones by charging with conventional or Crystalube polishing agents and water as well as diamond. 

A phenolic lap is tough, with its disc firmly bonded on a 3/8 aluminum thick plate base to provide enough stability. It is best for polishing facets much flatter and is manufactured only in the US.

Reference:

Laps Treatment and Care. (n.d.). International Gem Society. Retrieved July 22, 2022, from https://www.gemsociety.org/article/laps-treatment-care/