› Forums › Beginner Questions › Contaminated Lap?/Over Cutting Facets During Polishing › Reply To: Contaminated Lap?/Over Cutting Facets During Polishing
Hi again,
I have a few questions about charging a BATT lap. I followed David’s advice and purchased 2 BATTS and a Matrix along with 3K, 60K Diastiks and a Cerium Battstik. I think I have a decent idea about what I need to do to get the BATTS charged and broken in, but I want to run it by the experts before I do anything. You have all been so helpful! As I understand it I need to apply a thin layer of WD-40, baby oil, olive oil or something comparable to the surface with a paper towel. Then draw a few lines on with the Diastik and spread it around with my finger while the machine is running. After this is it necessary to break the lap in? A few articles I have read have said to use a piece of corundum or Cz for this. I have quite a few tiny Montana sapphires that are too small or fractured to cut. Would it work to just hold on to one of those and run it across the lap a few times? I guess I have just been worried a small chip will break off and contaminate my new lap. This brings me to my next question. I am pretty paranoid about contamination. I know to wash my hands between handling laps, but what is the best way to clean the stone, mast, etc before moving to a finer grit? Do I have to clean out the splash pan? How should I clean the lap before storing it?
Lastly, Is the process similar for charing the Matrix with Cerium? This is probably a pretty silly question, but do I charge the Matrix with diamond and cerium or just cerium? Thanks so much for the help!