The History of the Lightning Lap

Lightning Lap Customer Testimonials 

 ~“Arranged the UT and checked alignment after the move. Previous attempts to polish a Fire agate (Jelly opal, Mexican opal--whatever name you wish to call it) wouldn't polish. I don't remember the sequence of how I got to that point. Anyway, I Installed the LL and gave it two very short shots of 50K diamond. Instant polish within--2-3 seconds at the most. Slow rpm- moderate pressure. The conclusion, the LL is a fantastic polishing lap using very little diamond.” <Don M>

Hi, I just want to give some feedback that I am very satisfied with the lap you sent. It helped me a whole lot to polish blue topaz with which I had many troubles before. Thank you again, <Bruno in Belgium>

The LL is good for Tanzanite... I noticed a Tanzie repair job had an oxidation "stain" on the table. So before I dopped it and hand rubbed it a few strokes across a stationary LL with just water....instant polished table!  I think I am going to be very impressed!” <Wayne>

~“On your LL: I've been using it lately on Topaz and sunstone with good results too. The clearest advantage I have seen so far is it doesn't generate much heat. With stones that have cleavage problems I believe heat contributes to the minute flaking that occurs during polishing. The LL seems to solve some of that problem. It has greater slip but still polishes faster than most composites. I would definitely recommend people to try the LL. I think it would also be a great choice for the concave facet polishing applications. The LL has the advantage of being two sided. I don't think the LL can polish to the flatness of a ceramic. However under a microscope the LL doesn't seem to scratch as much as a ceramic.” <Dalan>

~“I've tried polishing Rutile, which is a bear to polish, using alumina on the LL without any treatment to the lap. The stone came up quickly with a fine polish following 3K on copper. I was really surprised because it had given me such trouble before on other laps. I simply misted alcohol slurry once onto the LL and spritzed it with water before each facet. I had tried polishing the rutile on a 50K BATT, but it left an unacceptable surface.”<Jim F>

~“Anyone can form a stone, but only a true facetor can polish one. The LL is that answer. I particularly like the fact that using a scrub brush and lava soap takes you back to your original starting point on the LL. I give it a 10 for polishing but I think it will do more. I would definitely buy one!”<Don M>

~“Please note that as a preliminary user, (slow also) that I must admit that the LL has found a home here as my Oxide Polishing LL. So far, so good, and YES I would definitely recommend beginning & accomplished facetors to buy it. I don't believe you will regret it. In my opinion it would rate right up there near the top of the 10 scale, much better than the Ultralaps or equivalent thereof that tend to roll up for me. Solid, flat & produces very fast polishes. The LL will probably last a facetor’s lifetime as a quality polishing lap. Nicely Done!”<Peter S>

~“I was one of the first people that Marsh asked to test his new lap. If you polish a lot of Quartz, or any material that you would normally use Cerium, this lap works wonders. The Lightning Lap and oxides are made for each other! I use one side with Cerium and the other with Alumina and both work equally well. For me the Lightning lap has done what it was designed to do, Polish Stones. So far, I have polished Apatite, Beryl, Feldspar, Garnet, Quartz, Scapolite, Tourmaline and Zircon with no problems. I have no monetary interest in this venture. Would I buy this lap? You bet! <Greg>

~"I found that if I go from a 600 Steel to 14K on the LL I can avoid all of the nasty surface pitting I see with spinel which can show up on on the odd facet with either 1200 Steel or 3K on copper.  I can move the meets around as well.  Boy does that take the tension off!" <Jim F>  

I've also done a 14K charge outside ring and 50K inside ring or 14 K outside and CeO inside for quartz, again with good results. Why 14K?
It just happens I had a bottle of Crystalite sitting there and I tried it - no other reason than dumb luck.

Also, I "erase" the charges with a scrub and usually a run through the dishwasher after I finish in the evening (along with dinner dishes)! This feature - being able to change grits on the same surface is actually changing some of my usual practices. For one thing I'm less shy of using both sides of the lap since they can be effectively cleaned. I had some bad contamination experiences with metal laps early in my faceting "career" doing this, perhaps due to the fact that one cannot really strip the surfaces of charged metal laps. Don't know why this is but I do not question providence - or Marsh who I think recommended this approach.”<Jim F>

 ~“One of the best attributes of the LL is the ability to scrub the lap and be right back to square one. And it certainly zips through quartz, I can tell you that. The LL is faster than the Spectra by quite a bit.”<Steve D>

~“In my commercial shop my cutters are amazed about the lap. It is polishing so fast, that they are saying they may be polishing with the fastest lap they have ever used! The speed of the polishing is so good that they are now able to polish three stones instead of one when they were using the corian lap with diamond. We are using 50K diamond paste. We don’t see the need to use 14K anymore. All of the staff is amazed and want to thank you and God for providing us with such a wonderful lap. They want you to know how much they appreciate your input into their work. They will be able to earn a lot more money for their work. I predict we will be able to start accepting twice as much work in the coming days. I am tired and going to bed. It has been a long but deliciously exciting day thanks to the LL. You have got a winner. I have no doubt about that. I am going to start to save up to buy a couple more.”<Gustavo>