Gearloose BATT 6" Alloy Lap

A solid casting. Finished on both sides - more versatile than one-sided laminated laps. A good, solid, cast tin alloy pre-polishing and polishing lap. This hard tin alloy allows the casting to be rigid enough to serve as a solid lap, without bonding to a base plate. This lap provides sharper meets, flatter facets, and higher speeds than are possible with laminated laps, and does so without the use of metals such as lead and cadmium. 1/2” arbor hole. Can be resurfaced many times, to provide years of use. Great value.

The laps are hard enough to ring like a bell when struck, unlike pure tin or tin/lead...but they WILL bend if force is used to pry them off a spindle, or if they are dropped or stepped on. Their unique grain structure is grown from the melt. Dropping them onto a hard surface can damage the grain structure of the metal so that if the "bump" is dressed or machined to a true surface, the damaged area may show different wear properties. So handle them with as much care as your other laps. The laps are cast and machined as simple disks. This way, they can be turned over for a second grit size, or can be resurfaced many times. Some faceters prefer using one side for diamond and the other for oxide polishes.

Choice of Polishes:
The new BATT ™ alloy has been tested with many aluminum oxide and cerium oxide suspensions. Originally developed for diamond, the BATT has been proven superior for use by "Oxide Fans". A light touch and low concentration is recommended, because many of these polishes, and the aluminas in particular, can be fast and aggressive and can quickly overheat the stone if allowed to run dry.

Charge the lap before cutting a first stone with diamond. If you are patient, you can skip the charging step, by simply applying diamond compound frequently.

As the diamond continues to sink into the lap, less and less will be used. THE PRESENCE OF METAL DEPOSITED ON THE FACET SURFACE ALWAYS MEANS THERE IS NOT ENOUGH DIAMOND PRESENT! The diamond does the cutting or polishing, NOT the lap itself.

Load the lap well with diamond compound, or, preferably, diamond powder and a little oil to make a stiff paste. Polish a scrap piece of quartz, topaz, sapphire, etc, sweeping the lap to insure uniform spreading and abrasive loading. After a minute or two you will see the finish begin to improve as diamond is taken into the softer domains of the alloy. Metal being smeared on the stone, (or on any facet during cutting) is an indication that the lap is "seeing" the stone. Apply more polish (diamond, Cerium oxide, whatever you are using.)