Faceting Accessories Ron Rivers

[keith ryan]

Hello All
New here so pls be kind if I don't get it just right for now ..

Fortunate to aquire an  old Hall Machine in good order , experience :- beginners course at our local Lapidary Club and only cut a few stones to date .
I have among others gray colour lap branded "Faceting Accessories" Ron Rivers .
I have two questions (1) does the business still exist (2) what material is it and what is it's recommended use and how to use it presumably it is for a high polish so what material and charge for best results maybe someone with exp with it or similar may like to comment .. cheers

Rinso   

[Bucket]

Welcome to the forum Keith. Halls are a good machine by all accounts, that would have been my second choice when I purchased. Not sure about the lap, by gray to you mean gray metal or some other substance. If it's plastic like it could be a composite lap of some description, but without any other info, I couldn't say what. I can't even find out anything about Ron Rivers. I would suggest, if you can afford it, a set of basic new laps are a good investment.

[Ghost]

Hi Keith,
Welcome to the forum.
Ron Rivers is mentioned on this forum three times in relation to "Dop Alignment", twice in 2009 and once in 2013.
Below is a quote from one of the posts.
"I got it from an elderly gent his name is Ron Rivers. He use to live in Zillmere QLD."
Not sure if this any help to you.
Regards.
Ghost

[Rusted]

A bit of a description of what you have would help. If it's metallic grey and very heavy it's probably a tin or typemetal lap, very useful. Usually used with 50000 or 100000 diamond for polishing. What is the surface like, is it worn so it's slightly dished or dead flat? Worn doesn't matter it's a simple matter of getting a skim taken off the surface in an accurate lathe.

[keith ryan]

A bit of a description of what you have would help. If it's metallic grey and very heavy it's probably a tin or typemetal lap, very useful. Usually used with 50000 or 100000 diamond for polishing. What is the surface like, is it worn so it's slightly dished or dead flat? Worn doesn't matter it's a simple matter of getting a skim taken off the surface in an accurate lathe.

thanks all for prompt reply light metalllic gray lap suspect it is some form of composite material colour light gray fairly heavily and evenly spotted with some white material it is new presumably not used as surface is smooth with no apparent use basic question was the label around the hub is "faceting accessories by Ron Rivers so I wondering about that my guess is around early mid seventies so I was wondering if anyone had experiance with that brand and how to use it , presuming if the white dots are a polishing compound do I still charge with diamond 50.000
again thanks everybody  home in these difficult times time to experiment and and hopefully work up to a good standard it is a great challenge methinks ..!!

[keith ryan]

Hi Keith,
Welcome to the forum.
Ron Rivers is mentioned on this forum three times in relation to "Dop Alignment", twice in 2009 and once in 2013.
Below is a quote from one of the posts.
"I got it from an elderly gent his name is Ron Rivers. He use to live in Zillmere QLD."
Not sure if this any help to you.
Regards.
Ghost

Thank you,guess that answers the query, that is a long time ago , I will experiment with diamond and see what gives .. thanks again

[FlashGP]

Hi all,
Ron Rivers used to demonstrate faceting at our gem shows, before I eas interested in faceting.  I think he has since died.

He made faceting machines and laps.  Keith, if you are a member of North Brisbane Lapidary Club or Redcliffe Club, members there would know more about Ron than me.  They should also be able to identify the laps. 

The laps sound like either bearing metal of a type metal.  Both were are commonly used.

I am in the Moreton Bay Group of the Australian Facetors Guild.  A number of our older members personally knew Ron.  See if there is a group of the guild near you, they may also know Ron or his work.

Kind regards
Gordon Perkins

[Ghost]

Hi Keith,
Before experimenting with diamond I suggest you wash the lap well and start your testing with the finest grits first.

Regards,
Ghost