Further to my complaint about the Spindle Hold-down Screw being inadequate and the Spindle itself not being the correct diameter so the laps slop around, I’ve now discovered that the Omni Faceting Machine can’t handle using cheap “topper” laps.
Topper laps are those low-priced laps with diamond bonded to a thin metal disk about 1/16″ thick. They are designed to be put on top of a master lap (or old worn-out lap) to provide backing so they don’t warp when used.
The design of the Omni Faceting Machine Spindle is once again poor. The Omni Spindle ends in a little nub that sticks up out of the Platen – on my Omni it’s only 3/16″ tall. You can see in my photos that with a brand-new Crystalite Aluminum Master Lap on the Platen, the Spindle does not extend through the Master Lap. This means that any Topper lap you put on does not have anything centering it… which means you’re going to have it slopping around causing damaging vibrations.
This is just one more design flaw in the Omni Faceting Machine that limits your choice of supplies and causes frustrations.
The bottom photo shows the Spindle Hold-down Screw without either the factory-supplied brass washer or my plastic faucet washer in place. This is to give you a clearer view of how the lap sits.
I’ve noticed the same problem and I’m planning to machine a spacer plug, probably made from brass, to be able to properly center the topper lap and provide a better method to secure the thin lap to the master lap.
I use a Facetron lap nut and washer with a nylon bushing sized to fit over the the Facetron screw and in a od size of the 1/2 inch lap hole to center the lap. This setup seems to solve the problem for me. I haven’t encountered any “unwinding” when the lap is reversed.
I’d be interested in comments about the dial indicator modification. I don’t see anything so far.
Facetingman