January 24 Through February 4—TUCSON, ARIZONA: Annual show
Welcome to the GemologyOnline.com Forum
A non-profit Forum for the exchange of gemological ideas
It is currently Thu Mar 28, 2024 9:32 am

All times are UTC - 4 hours




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 8 posts ] 
Author Message
 Post subject: Nanositol versus YAG polishing ease?
PostPosted: Wed Feb 17, 2021 1:48 pm 
Offline
New to the Forum or The Quiet Type

Joined: Sun Feb 09, 2020 3:39 pm
Posts: 3
I was about to start cutting my Novice USFG project in YAG when I found (by reading multiple threads of various vintages here) that it's not always simple to polish. I really want to not struggle with this stone. Has anyone cut "nanositol" from Rusgems?

"Nanosital is an optically transparent polycristalline material that is formed by the crystallization of glass with corresponding chemical composition and has higher physical and chemical properties than the original glass."

I have a big ugly chunk of it in acid green, and if it's easy to polish I could really use an easy win because I still struggle to get consistently flawless finishes despite having almost every professional tool at my disposal (Batt, darkside, tin+, zinc+, all the Gearloose polishing and pre-polishing sticks and grits, a Greenway, and even some spectralaps).

If Nanositol isn't my super-duper so easy to polish that every single idiot can succeed, are there other suggestions?

Thanks for any suggestions!


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Nanositol versus YAG polishing ease?
PostPosted: Wed Feb 17, 2021 2:18 pm 
Offline
Moderator
User avatar

Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2012 9:31 pm
Posts: 4015
Location: North Carolina
I have never heard of yag being hard to polish. It has the reputation of being maybe the easiest material to cut. That said, nanosital should also be quite easy to cut.

_________________
Rough and cut classic and exotic synthetic gems:https://store.turtleshoard.com


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Nanositol versus YAG polishing ease?
PostPosted: Wed Feb 17, 2021 2:33 pm 
Offline
New to the Forum or The Quiet Type

Joined: Sun Feb 09, 2020 3:39 pm
Posts: 3
I've got the yag dopped up so I may as well carry on. It seemed some consensus was that it just needs a really good prepolish, so I'll be sure not to shortcut there.


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Nanositol versus YAG polishing ease?
PostPosted: Wed Feb 17, 2021 4:32 pm 
Offline
Gold Member
User avatar

Joined: Tue Apr 05, 2016 7:58 pm
Posts: 1424
Location: San Marcos, CA
I as well never had any issue with polishing yag, quite the opposite or heard of this. I sell RusGems Nanosital and it polishes as well as the yag. A good 600 lap, to a 3k or 8k prepolish, 50k then a 100k to remove the finest of fine. I use wd-40 as lubricant. Your Batt or tin+ for pre-polish, and the same for polish, maybe use a BA5T for the 100k. Many options of laps will work, facet edge rounding maybe a concern in a competition stone.

_________________
The Gem Garden
San Marcos, CA


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Nanositol versus YAG polishing ease?
PostPosted: Wed Feb 17, 2021 4:49 pm 
Offline
New to the Forum or The Quiet Type

Joined: Sun Feb 09, 2020 3:39 pm
Posts: 3
I feel reassured, thanks. The thread that worried me was pretty old, and who knows what other problems the poster may have had. I'll soon find out for myself. Thanks for the advice on the cut/polish sequence.


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Nanositol versus YAG polishing ease?
PostPosted: Tue Mar 15, 2022 2:36 pm 
Offline
Moderator
User avatar

Joined: Fri Jun 25, 2010 10:06 pm
Posts: 2267
Location: Chapel Hill, NC / Toronto, ON
Honestly, YAG is much easier to polish than Nanosital. Nanosital, depending on the colour, can actually be a bit slow to polish! (It's very easy to prepolish, but sometimes the polish is slow. Certain colours can also be a bit brittle.)


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Nanositol versus YAG polishing ease?
PostPosted: Wed Mar 16, 2022 1:01 pm 
Offline
Gold Member
User avatar

Joined: Tue Apr 05, 2016 7:58 pm
Posts: 1424
Location: San Marcos, CA
Faceting 101 by Arya wrote:
Honestly, YAG is much easier to polish than Nanosital. Nanosital, depending on the colour, can actually be a bit slow to polish! (It's very easy to prepolish, but sometimes the polish is slow. Certain colours can also be a bit brittle.)

Which colors do you find brittle, is it a property manufactured with the color to a specific gemstone? Say like the Tanzanite colors or Kunzite colors. Or is this a scientific causation of the coloring agent or some other cause or reason?

_________________
The Gem Garden
San Marcos, CA


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Nanositol versus YAG polishing ease?
PostPosted: Thu Mar 17, 2022 9:20 pm 
Offline
Moderator
User avatar

Joined: Fri Jun 25, 2010 10:06 pm
Posts: 2267
Location: Chapel Hill, NC / Toronto, ON
glhays wrote:
Faceting 101 by Arya wrote:
Honestly, YAG is much easier to polish than Nanosital. Nanosital, depending on the colour, can actually be a bit slow to polish! (It's very easy to prepolish, but sometimes the polish is slow. Certain colours can also be a bit brittle.)

Which colors do you find brittle, is it a property manufactured with the color to a specific gemstone? Say like the Tanzanite colors or Kunzite colors. Or is this a scientific causation of the coloring agent or some other cause or reason?

205, E156, and E158 all seemed unusually brittle compared to the other colour-changing ones, and had a longer polishing time. I don't use any of the other Nanosital formulations, just the colour change ones.


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 8 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 4 hours


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 11 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
Powered by phpBB © 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007 phpBB Group
Gemology Style ported to phpBB3 by Christian Bullock