Rociprolap- anyone use one?

The Rose Lap (Rociprolap) is best lap out there period. Buy your nylon ball bearings from McMaster Carr. You can buy them in bulk very cheap and you will use alot of them. It will take you awhile to get the hang of the machine, but it works very well.

The lap plate is quite heavy, but it lifts right off. With a HP lap, you have to unbolt it and always be fooling with the cables for it to balance and work correctly.

Also, the lap plate rotates so if you are just doing like a single palm stump or large agate, the plate will still wear evenly. It is made of thick cast iron and can be machined flat again after it gets work down.

I always use 1200 grit graded silicon carbide for at least an hour as a pre-polish. It makes a big difference. Do not waste your money buying a polishing pad from Covington. Just get a carpet remnant and cut to size, or if you want to polish real fast, just go to your dome on the Bull Wheel or a big felt or leather drum with cerium and you will reduce your polish time from a couple hours to a couple minutes.

Do not let your slurry dry out or the rocks will stick to the plate (even when the machine is running). This will result in the machine going nuts! Also, you can make a bumper ring for the plate out of rubber tubing or garden hose. Make smaller bumpers for your rocks from tubing or strips from an innertube.