| Home | Rough | Equipment | Books | Online Designs | Just Ask Jeff | Order | News List | Contact Me | Links |
| Amethyst | Aquamarine | Beryl | Citrine | Emerald | Garnet | Opal | Peridot | Sapphire | Scapolite | Spinel | Sunstone | Synthetics | Topaz | Tourmaline | Quartz | Zircon |
| Bargains | Beginner's Page | Eclectic | New Stuff | Odds & Ends | Parcels | Specials |
| Cut Gemstones | Cutting Information | Pricing Guides | Buying Gemstones |
How Do I Polish Tourmaline and Garnet?
By far, the best way I have found to polish both Tourmaline and Garnet is with a tin lor phenolic lap and Alumina Oxide (AeO2).
I prefer a Phenolic lap and AeO2. Tin laps are just too expensive (Jan 2009) and I find that phenolic laps work as well or better over time.
I use a high grade alumina oxide polish, with about 1 tablespoon polish to 2-3 tablespoons of water in a slurry (a small amount of vinegar can be added to help stop scratches, although it is seldom a problem). I apply the polish to the lap with a decent quality watercolor paint brush that is made for applying washes (it holds a good amount of liquid/polish).
Run the lap just fast enough that it does not throw the polish off, and keep the stone moving in a nice sweeping arc.
I personally think that a Tin lap definitely works better with the lap scored, than it does without. I find that the scores help keep the polish on the lap longer, which speeds up polishing and also seems to help remove waste from the polishing process.
Do I really need to score polishing laps and if so how?
If you have not used a scored tin lap before, it feels a little strange to start with, but it really works.
Note: You can polish with or without scoring.
Note2: I prefer having two seperate polish laps (I cut and polish a lot) one for Tourmaline and one for Garnet. Garnets are slightly harder than Tourmaline and I have occasionally had a Garnet chip cause scratching problems on Tourmaline. It is rare though.Note 3: Occasionally I get a piece of Tourmaline that a tin lap leaves very, very tiny horse tail types of scratches on. If this happens I touch the facets up with a Spectra Ultralap charged with AeO2.
| Home | Rough | Equipment | Books | Online Designs | Just Ask Jeff | Order | News List | Contact Me | Links |
| Amethyst | Aquamarine | Beryl | Citrine | Emerald | Garnet | Opal | Peridot | Sapphire | Scapolite | Spinel | Sunstone | Synthetics | Topaz | Tourmaline | Quartz | Zircon |
| Bargains | Beginner's Page | Eclectic | New Stuff | Odds & Ends | Parcels | Specials |
| Cut Gemstones | Cutting Information | Pricing Guides | Buying Gemstones |