(sorry for large post but a lot of information is posted here) Some people have asked what I use for cutting and polishing as far as laps. Actually I use a custom made copper lap for my 8000 diamond pre polish lap and a custom made copper lap for my polishing lap, these laps have a much thicker 3mm or true 1/8th inch thick copper layer bonded on top of a very flat and true anodized aluminum master lap. What’s out on the current market is typical only 1/32 -1/16 inch thick for the copper layer which can flex over time and cause separation and is less likely to be resurfaced on a machine shop lathe. The other laps I use are a “New Diamond Composite Cutting Laps” that my diamond tools consultant friend Dr. Ed Perry and I have been developing together under his business R & D Consultants here in Sedona. I spoke of these about a year and a half ago just before the Tucson show and they where not ready then. Well the good news is they are finally ready from a limited production run in 4 different Diamond Composite grit sizes in a custom 8 size w/0.50” hole; VM250 diamond, VM500 diamond, V1000 diamond and V1500 diamond, you will be able to purchase them as a set with a discount or individually. (No 6” will be offered) Im just getting ready to produce a “Instructional Use DVD” that will accompany every lap sold to show you how to use them properly and how to dress them with the included custom dressing stone that comes with each and every lap, it brings back the sharpness when they slow down over time and use. The dressing stone is sized to last for a very long time and use. We’ll have a few more weeks before the official release date of these new and may I say excellent cutting laps. It took the past two years to work out any bugs in the development of these laps and now we are very proud to be ready to offer them to the custom or production facetor out there. The construction of each and every lap is very very labor intensive and are not a mass produced product, requiring many long hours to make with over 100 carats of diamond in each and every one of them. The cost will be around what a sintered lap sells for so they are not inexpensive, the value is in there very long term use and renewable surface and as mentioned above are supplied with a custom made dressing block when you need to freshen up the laps cutting surface to bring them back into a sharper state. What’s special about these laps is there soft cutting action for a hard lap with the way they cut as opposed to a hard metal plated or sintered metal lap, which tends to chip and fray some fragile gemstones in there coarser grit sizes, like kunzite and other gemstones especially soft ones but are superior in every respect for the medium to harder stones also, like quartz to sapphire. I would not of been able to do all of those Oceanview Mine kunzites & triphanes without the use of these wonderful cutting laps, including the cutting of the record breaking Big 1,345ct Colorado topaz oval, in fact these are the only laps I have been using this past year and a half, except for a very coarse 100 & 180 custom plated diamond lap for really roughing out stones that have a lot to grind away, heavy roughing should only be done on a coarse or coarser plated lap NEVER on these laps, the VM250 & VM500 Diamond Composite laps are for fast faceting in the medium coarse and medium fine grit sizes giving a smooth, even, finer finish and the finer V1000 & V1500 Diamond Composite laps are fine pre polishing laps that produces a finer finish then the indicted grit size and all are comparable to Raytech NuBond™ brown, red and blue laps but are a whole lot thicker with the 1.5mm diamond composite depth that’s “surface renewable” as compared to the very thin diamond resin painted NuBond™. It would take a lifetime to ware these out if used properly, with no chipping or flaking of the cutting surface, which I experienced with several past NuBond™ laps I’ve owned. Hence the “Instructional Use DVD” for these as they are not like any other diamond cutting lap out there and need to be used in a specific manner and technique as far as flushing water supply, pressure and sweeping of the lap surface, ect... When more details become available as far as pricing and an official release date Ill update you all here on my FB wall. Plus we also will be offering other neat tools and upgrades to help with faceting as we go along. A new multi colored and fully anodized aluminum 1.5” target dop in a ¼ inch shaft is just off of production and will be ready for sale shortly also. It’s very useful when aligning rough or especially a faceted stone for re cutting, with 4 repeating color rings and black eight ray target lines to help distinguish the centering of a stone. The cost on these is set at $120 plus shipping. Below are photos of each of these new exciting laps with different views of each surface and edge view, also the multi colored ring target dop. Note: the V1000 Diamond Composite lap in the photo is a pre production lap I use and all the others are the new production laps, all where dressed for the photo to show you what they look like when you get them or when starting fresh after using the dressing stone. This V1000 Diamond lap works so well I felt I did not need to upgrade it to a new production model, the only difference is the hole in the center, which the production models do not have. It’s all diamond from the center hole to the outer edge in the production model, which is a “surface renewable” 1.5mm thick diamond composite layer bonded to a 2mm base layer mounted and bonded to a very flat and true anodized 7mm- 0.25” aluminum master lap. Each lap in production is dimensioned to be within a few thousands of an inch overall thickness between them so when swapping out a lap to the next finer grit size there is a minimum of height change which speeds up faceting. So if you are interested in any of these let me know in a PM and we can go from there. Stephen Kotlowski Uniquely K Custom Gems Sedona, AZ Dr. Ed Perry R & D Consultants Sedona, AZ
Posted on: Sat, 28 Jun 2014 04:20:18 +0000
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