BA5T Lap
8" BA5T Lap for High speed Production Polishing
Manufacturer: Gearloose
Availability: Usually ships from CES Warehouse with a 1-2 week lead time
BA5T™ is a completely different alloy family than the BATT™ alloys (The old alloy, and the 2007 alloy), and has a different "Feel" when polishing.
Note the background on this page, a micrograph of BA5T's grain structure. Compare it to the background of the BATT front page. The alloys are completely different in structure. Some have described BA5T's feel in varying ways, such as "Creamy", "Smoother", etc.. These descriptions result from the lower Coefficient of Friction and different Fractal Dimension (Surface complexity of its microstructure) compared to other tin alloys, including BATT™.
These laps are intended for the experienced BATT™ user who requires a harder-finer-grained lap for high speed production polishing processes.
The very complex alloy, having attendant casting quirks requires a heavy ("Pro-Weight") 2.5 Kg casting, and extra machining steps. This of course allows more resurfacings for a longer service life.
For someone slaving under a stopwatch for a living, they are cheap, but the regular production "BATT™" will always remain the best Price/Performance value for the hobbyist.
BA5T™ contains silver and other cost drivers that make it impossible for it to be a cheap product.
Competition cutters want to win, some at any cost. They don't care about a few Dollars. Commercial and Professional cutters know that "cutting tools" are fully tax-deductible and depreciated in one year. Cutting hundreds of stones a year, a BA5T will polish better and faster, and pay for itself quickly. So they don't care what the BA5T™ costs at all..which is, in their case, arguably, "Nothing".
Check out our blog post "Gearloose Faceting Lap Application Chart" to find out more about what stones this polishing lap works best with.
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