On Sunday, February 12, 2017 at 8:44:00 PM UTC-5, wrote:
On Sat, 11 Feb 2017 10:38:37 -0800 (PST), wrote:
On Friday, February 10, 2017 at 10:47:22 PM UTC-5, Paul Drahn wrote:
On 2/10/2017 6:49 PM, wrote:
Timesaver lapping abrasive
I see it for $50 per pound on Ebay. Where do you get it?
Paul
$9.00 for a 3-oz. jar from Micro Surface. Here's the Yellow grade. The others should be selectable from the choices on the webpage.
https://www.ws2coating.com/yellow-la...-and-aluminum/
IIRC, it's mostly silica or glass, at least for the hard (green) version made for ferrous metals. If you remember engine valve lapping compounds from 50 or more years ago, they were ground glass for the same reason. It resists embedding in cast iron valve seats.
Greetings Ed,
When I bought my 8 can sample kit years ago I bought it directly from
Micro Surface but had forgotten their name. When I looked for it
online the other day Newman Tool was the first link. I had no idea
they would mark up the same kit more than 200% over what Micro Surface
charges. I'm glad you looked more and found that much cheaper price.
The fact that it doesn't embed and laps the softer metal is quite
useful in certain situations and I'm sure there are folks reading this
group that could use it, especially at the much cheaper price you
linked to.
Thanks,
Eric
I'm glad you brought it up, Eric. I've heard of it and I was curious, but I never checked it out before.
I remember reading an article about building benchrest rifles, and the author recommended it for lapping-in the lugs on a bolt action. That was the hard version, made for lapping steel.
From one of the MSDSes online, I see that the steel version also contains garnet. That's another silicate, usually aluminum silicate, which is a good abrasive but it has two properties that sound right in line with the idea of not embedding: it fractures easily, and it doesn't cleave into strong crystal shapes. It just keeps breaking up.
So maybe I'll find a use for it. I used to do a lot of lapping, when I spent a lot more time in the shop. I avoid using a toolpost grinder when I can, because I don't want that grit on my lathe bed.
--
Ed Huntress