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General Purpose Cutting Laps

NOTE: We are discontinuing cutting laps. Check out our super closeouts on laps!

General information on laps:

All laps cut more aggressively when they are new.  With age, they will cut slower and create a finer scratch pattern.  I have a friend who was crushed when the 1200 grit solid steel lap he used for pre-polishing finally wore out.  His new 1200 lap creates too coarse of a pre-polish for him to get the quick polish he was so accustomed to with his old worn-in 1200.  The answer for this, of course, is to use a new 3000 grit lap, or a Nubond lap for pre-polishing.

Hi Tech Diamond Topper Laps:

Topper laps are the thin diamond laps that Hi Tech glues on to their baseplates.  These laps are too thin to be used by themselves.  Topper Laps must be glued to a baseplate using the supplied pressure sensitive adhesive, or simply placed on top of a Master lap before use.  Topper Laps are the least expensive type laps you can get, but they're great for roughing in those few stones that don't warrant spending the full price of a standard lap.  Topper Laps that aren't glued to a baseplate don't run flat and true, but accuracy isn't needed if you are quickly hogging off material for preforming.

Low Cost Diamond Topper Laps

These Low Cost Topper Laps are supplied with a pressure sensitive adhesive coating on their back sides and are designed to be glued to a baseplate, or simply placed on top of a Master lap before use. Topper Laps are the least expensive type laps available and are great for roughing in those few stones that don't warrant spending the full price of a standard lap. Topper Laps that aren't glued to a baseplate don't run as flat and true, but accuracy isn't needed if you are quickly hogging off material for preforming.

Hi Tech Diamond Cutting Laps:
Hi Tech Diamond Laps have diamond bonded to a thin aluminum lap.  The thin lap is then glued to a composite baseplate.  The composite baseplates are very flat and true, so Hi Tech laps run just as flat and true as Crystalite Regular Laps, but are usually less expensive. Hi Tech laps have the advantage that they break in much faster than Crystalite laps.  Once a Hi Tech 1200 grit lap is broken in, it cuts finer than a Crystalite 3000 grit lap.  So the 1200 Hi Tech lap renders an good pre-polish for many materials. If you only need to use a 100 grit lap on occasion, it doesn't make sense to purchase any other lap than the Hi Tech Diamond.

Crystalite regular laps are only a few dollars less than solid steel laps. They are also much lighter than solid steel laps, so they are much cheaper to ship. We suggest Crystalite Standard laps as a good quality lap for our international customers.

Crystalite recommends adding Crystalcut (above) to your drip water when using their laps to keep your laps from clogging up.

Crystalite Solid Steel Laps:

If you spend the money for a precision faceting machine, your laps should reflect the same precision and accuracy as your machine. That’s why I prefer Crystalite solid steel laps for general cutting.  They are the flattest laps you can buy and they keep cutting after other laps are worn out. Solid steel laps are more expensive, but because they are so long-lasting, in the long run, they are cheaper. Only Crystalmet Metal Bond Laps are longer lasting than Solid Steel laps, but the price of Crystalmet laps precludes most of us from using them. Crystalmet laps are also not very flat.

All laps cut more aggressively when they are new, but Solid Steel laps cut more aggressively and for a longer period of time. Therefore, 1200 and 3000 Solid Steel laps are not useful for prepolishing until they have been used as a coarse lap on a lot of stones. If you want a prepolish lap that cuts with a fine scratch pattern out of the box, the Nubond laps are a good choice. Crystalite Standard laps and Hi Tech laps will break in much faster than Solid Steel laps. Crystalite recommends adding Crystalcut (below) to your drip water when using their Solid Steel laps to prevent rusting and to keep your laps from clogging up.

When Crystalcut is added to the water in your drip tank, it acts as a coolant and a rust inhibitor for metal bond laps.  Crystalite recommends Crystalcut for their Solid Steel laps to prevent rusting.  We have such a dry climate here in Tucson, that we don't have to worry about our Solid Steel laps rusting.  If you work in a damp basement or live in a wet climate, Crystalcut is a good insurance policy to keep your expensive laps rust free.

Crystalcut comes packaged in one pound bags.  Add one ounce of Crystalcut granules to one gallon of water (one pound package makes 16 gallons).

Coarse laps are convenient if you cut large stones or if you tend to cut synthetics that have been sliced off a boule with a saw.  Only use coarse laps for the grossest of pre-forming, because they create lots of chips and will blow out culets and corners.  Coarse laps also create an invisible layer of fractures on the surface of the stone.  If this layer isn’t fully removed with successively finer grits, polishing will either be a nightmare, or just plain impossible.

Crystalite Channel Laps:
Crystalite Channel laps (lap on right side of picture) can be used for general cutting purposes.  They are similar to Crystalite Regular laps except that the surface of the lap has randomly spaced channels surrounding diamond impregnated "islands."  The channel depressions allow cutting debris to be quickly flushed away.  The result is quick cutting action.

Crystalite Dot Laps:
Crystalite Dot laps are the most aggressive laps available.  They remove material super fast with absolutely no hydroplaning.  The open area surrounding the "dots" quickly remove cutting scree from the grinding area. Excellent for preforming large stones.

If you are a commercial cutter, you might consider purchasing Crystalmet Laps.  They are the very finest laps available.  Crystalmet Sintered Laps last much, much longer than Solid Steel Laps.  So, they are cheaper in the long run.

Crystalmet Sintered Laps cut more aggressively than other laps of the same grit, but provide a smoother finish.  Crystalmet Laps are the lap of choice for production cutters.

Crystalite recommends adding Crystalcut (above) to your drip water when using their Crystalmet laps to prevent corrosion.

Crystalite Dressing Stick Kit:
These sticks are essential for sintered laps. They are used to dress sintered laps to keep them cutting evenly and aggressively. The kit contains two sticks: a coarse one for 360 grit and coarser laps, and a fine stick for 600 grit and finer laps. Using dressing sticks on non-sintered laps will reduce their life, but when your laps get loaded up toward the end of their lifespan, dressing sticks can oftne add some new life to your old laps.

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