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The Secret Weapon Lap (Tin/Lead)

Justin K Prim

6,244 views

Today I delve into one of the traditional materials ever used to polish a gemstone; the tin/lead lap aka pewter aka bell metal aka type metal.
If you'd like to add a tin/lead lap to your collection, get one here before they run out:
https://www.magusgems.com/products/ti...

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16 Comments

@geoffgeoff143 4 weeks ago

I find the best polishing lap to use is the one you master.

@lachlan27396 4 weeks ago

Love typemetal laps, probably the most versatile polishing lap out there

@darylstevenson2615 3 weeks ago

Well done , always seem to go with my tin lead lap .

@OpalofMyEye 4 weeks ago

These look great, I’d definitely say plan on keeping these in stock if you can. I can’t right now and hope when I can they are still in stock. But this is a really great tool to have and can see the versatility and benefits.

@natthewsmith 3 weeks ago

@8:13 I believe in other lapping contexts they call that a serrated lap (?) and the purpose is to break up the hydrodynamic surface, just like a car tire does to prevent hydroplaning. in machinist lapping the groves will be square sometimes, but I bet with such a small polishing surface it pays to skew the groove to the direction of movement.

@worlderrorcoins 4 weeks ago

Hi thanks so much 😊

@TheDanLopez 3 weeks ago

I have a furnace and melt aluminum, copper, and brass regularly. If i get into the hobby hard-core I might have to get a lathe so I can make my own blend and try them out.

@evgenyk.4681 4 weeks ago

Morning!
The main thing is to wash your hands thoroughly with soap after working with lead discs. Otherwise, lead exposure may negatively affect your health.
Take care!

@2011blueman 4 weeks ago

I love your enthusiasm for history...but you didn't say why in the world I would choose a tin/lead lap other than the quartz example of your personal preference and I'd personally just switch to the Creamway lap for quartz, it hasn't ever let me down on quartz. I have the lap set that came with the sterling handpiece sri lankan machine, along with many many other laps, but I didn't hear a superb reason to choose a new tin/lead over the BATT lap as the all around goto polishing lap.

@geoffgeoff143 4 weeks ago

Often called a 50/50 solder lap

@ChamilaWickramasinghe-s3u 4 weeks ago

Thanks for the breakdown on this. How does this lap perform specifically for final polishing on sapphire (corundum)?

@xyzcarlatino 4 weeks ago

What is the difference between this one and the 60 tin 40 lead ?

@narouk2633 4 weeks ago

i have a Darkside for quartz it works amazing . im just so worries about the lead getting on me. is that really not such an issue? I have a batt for everything else. is it really that much better than a batt?