› Forums › Beginner Questions › Polishing help for Single Stone Contest. !! › Reply To: Polishing help for Single Stone Contest. !!
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Polishing was one of my greatest challenges when I started faceting. I tried different polishing compounds from serum oxide Mylar toppers, to diamond paste, batt sticks, different lubricants, different polishing laps from copper to a batt lap. I finally figured out how to get a good polish after watching a tutorial on faceting on YouTube by Arya Akhavan. My main problem was using too much polishing compound and lube. I now get fantastic polish routinely. I use a batt lap and I suspect copper would work equally well. I wipe down the surface of the lap with WD40. Then wearing a finger cot I put a dab of 50-60k diamond powder on the tip of the finger cot and smear it into the WD40 film left on the lap. When it is evenly spread I would use a scrap piece of corundum to push the diamond into the lap. This is called charging the lap. Then start polishing. You should only need to dress the lap once with the corundum. I will then occasionally clean the lap with WD40 And add more diamond powder as needed. You might want to try other lubricants like musical instrument valve oil or liquid paraffin. Arya says WD40 is toxic so I mentioned alternatives but I also use finger cots because I don’t like getting messy.