Hurco oil for polishing

[jude]

I have seen a few rave reviews for “Hurco” oil as THE best as a carrier for polishing with diamond.

The “Hurco” oil mentioned is said to be used to lubricate “brass” musical instruments with piston valves – like trumpets and tubas.

I thought this would be easy to find, but despite a lot of looking, I cannot find enough information to be sure I have the right item; most of the references to Hurco oil I see have to do with machine tools.

Does anyone know EXACTLY what this is and where to but it?

[Alan Balmer]

Look for “trombone oil”. I remember someone recommending this a few years ago. You’ll find several varieties on Amazon, including Herco. (Note the spelling). It will probably work as well as any other light oil, but don’t expect magic.

[jude]

Thanks Alan, no wonder I didn’t find it.

You may very well be right, but 2 or 3 expert youtube faceters I’ve watched (Vintage Time for one) say this is THE best. Maybe its exactly the right viscosity or something.

At this point in my learning curve, I’m accumulating every little edge and trick I can find, so even if this makes ANY difference, it’s a success for me.

Any other ideas or suggestions welcome….

[Alan Balmer]

Just for fun, click on the search symbol at the top of the page and look for “trombone”. You’ll find an article by Carl Unruh recommending it, and several mentions in past newsletters.

[Lowjiber]

If you can’t find Herco, just about any brand (sometimes referred to as “valve oil”) will work well. I use Music Nomad brand synthetic valve oil with diamond bort. Works well.

A light coating of WD40 works well too.

[gemmakermz]

i still say NO oils ,, no GREASEs have you ever tried to stop your car on an oily or greasy pavement. you want contact with polishing agent and stone and oils/greases are lubs not wetting agents and worse for diamond. the best way is very slow with water, a wetting agent, and just enough to make a muddy slur of the polishing agent. i teach(for free) to use a tin lap turning very slow with just enough water to make that muddy slur of 50,000 diamond powder and not enough to flush everything off. i have members that still wanted to use oils etc. and finally my way and swear by it now.

[Frankwood]

Oil is used as a carrier, its job is to evenly spread the diamond over the lap and lubricate the lap surface.
Water is a pain to use because if you don’t get the drip just right the lap will either dry out or wash the diamond off, If it gets to dry it will put scratches in the facet. The muddy slurry your talking about gemmakerm will produce a good polish. But under a 10x loupe the facet is full of tiny grooves. Which in competition cutting is no good.
Oil is the easiest to use with diamond. I suppose any light oil will do, I use one or two drops of baby oil with 60k diamond powder on a BATT lap.
Rubbing the mixture onto the lap with my finger and wiping any excess off, till the surface of the lap feels almost dry.

[gemmakermz]

in most case everyone out there are running there machines fast. ask jeff theesfled our historian he’s using my method now. and one very important thing to is the quality of the 50k diamond powder. i’ve tried it from all over sources and only found one with real quality powder. again oil is a lub, an insulator of friction(contact) and your not getting the work out of your polishing agent. never score the lap, cuttings can build up in the scoring and work back out as clumps and cause scratching. yes its tricky getting the right drip rate as most drip controls are crude and verying pressure as water level lowers but with practice it will work out. i now have both club and none club members using my method with great success. i even have the batt laps working with it and two that i’ll have to resurface because i used 60k and 50k from pour sources. i get my powder from glass-polisher in china. he is now setting up a supply center in L.A. to better facilitate the supply.

[Author]

Posts