Cutting saphire

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Jul 17, 2018
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Hi my friend is having trouble removing scratches when cutting a sapphire any tips Thanks ... wandwaver :gemstone:
 
Wandwaver-

Polish: Diamond, I use nothing but diamond powder, 3k > 8k > 60k > 100K spritz for sharp finish, lightly and quickly.

Tripoli is for the lesser of two weevils. Better off in tumblers.
 
I'm with the others - the most usual cause of scratching is contamination and that can occur from an external source (Swarf, failing to clean the stone from the previous lap, contamination on the polishing lap, or a build up of too much excess polish combined with a 'heavy hand').
Suggest a final cut at 1200, a pre-polish at 8000 and a final polish at 50,000 or 100,000 - not charging your polishing laps with too much material(making sure it is reasonably evenly spread on the lap) and ensuring you clean your hands then clean the stone at each sequence. Work at lowest speed when polishing.

Best of luck.
 
I know this is about scratching, but also make sure your pre-polish and polish laps are flat, then the stone will polish fast. I have my polish lap micro-grooved as well, it's Tin and I was cautious about doing this at first, but once done with a knurling roller and dressed off with 600 wet & dry on glass, the polishing speed increased dramatically.

1598827031_tin-polishing-lap-surface.jpg


I use this on virtually all material including the quartz's, the only material I found that it's no good for is opal, scratches badly.

The other plus with the surface is virtually no squeaking on tables. :)
 
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