SCRATCH FREE POLISHING

A very common question and complaint is “Where are the scratches coming from, and how can I avoid them?”

A scratch that appears for just a few passes on the disk and then goes away is commonly caused by a contaminate
just “passing by”. Generally the contaminate is a piece of loose grit, or a chip of glass not removed during rinsing.
Also, a small chip of glass may come loose from the edge of the glass and ‘roll’ beneath the surface being ground. A
light seaming bevel on your glass after the coarse grind can virtually eliminate this problem.

Most persistent scratches are caused by a source of contamination either on the grinding surface or beneath the
disk. The identification and source of this contamination may be puzzling, but it must be discovered & eliminated!
A contaminant may be virtually anything that can stick to or into the magnet side causing a lump. Metal has an
obvious attraction to the magnet, but even small contaminates like glass chips or debris on the wheel head can
become pressed into the magnet. The contaminate causes a spot of diamond which is raised higher than all other
diamonds on the disk. This area grinds harder, and scratches the glass.

If allowed to remain unchecked, the location on the disk containing the contaminate may become damaged. The
contaminate must be removed to restore the efficiency of the diamond disk. To remove most contaminates, just wipe
the magnet side clean with acetone. If necessary, a knife may be used to dig or cut out the contaminate(s) from the
rubber magnet; a small hole in the magnet will not cause any problems in the use of the disk. Persistent scratching
can be caused by a stray oversized diamond, although this is rare. If all attempts to eliminate scratching fail, please
contact us for advice.

Using too much water in the finer steps of polishing can also cause scratching, as the glass actually hydroplanes
and contact is lost with the grinding surface. The glass then occasionally ‘grabs’ and grinds very aggressively, leaving
either a new plane on the bottom or a very scratchy surface. If this happens, use a little less water. But always have
some water running, even if it is just a steady drip. A good rule is more water for the coarse grind and less for each
following step.

Finally, do not leave the disk unused on your grinding wheel for long periods of time, as rust can form between
them. Painting the wheel head evenly with spray paint can minimize rusting. If your wheel head rusts easily, then I
recommend a good, even coat of epoxy enamel spray paint. Cheap paint is adequate, but won’t last as long. I like to
use colored enamels for variety, and I generally strip and repaint every month or two as the paint on the wheel head
becomes scratched and starts to rust again.