Well, I fired it up today, and went for broke. I did all this cutting with a 600 lap. So I guess the laps are suitable. It did take quite a lot of time but I'm under the impression it's just a slower process than I believed.
This also raises the question of exactly how often you should buy/recharge your laps. Do you just replace them when they cut noticeably slower, and how many stones do you suppose could be cut before needing to rotate to a fresh one?
Thank you guys again. You've been a tremendous help

Well, I'm sorry it took me a day to get back, My phone refuses to post the pictures of the individual wheels. I'll be going through that adjustment guide to make sure the mast is accurate. and I'll likely order that book as soon as I get the chance, hopefully I do some test cutting with that piece of glass tonight. Thank you all for your help. I'jj see if I can post pictures later of the machine itself along with the laps.

Well, it's not that my machine isn't equipped with the splashguard, and I was aware that generally cutting is done with either water or polishing compound. It's that the machine is currently sharing my desk with my computer and I don't particularly want to sling water slurry around the house inside or out if it's just for a quick test. But I also wasn't sure of any dangers associated with running them dry with glass specifically.
 I took pictures of the individual laps, but my computer isn't playing nice with my phone, so I'll likely be posting them tomorrow along with a picture of the machine itself, maybe one of you can tell me about how old it is.
 I took the advice posted elsewhere and emailed the nice people at ultratech with the serial number and they politely declined and suggested that if I sent it in for a check-up that they could stop withholding the information. They probably get those emails a lot from people looking to resell used machines, so I guess I can't blame them.
 You guys are a great help, I'm trying not to get discouraged by the learning curve. My only hope is that I'm starting young.

Shouldn't have been so quick to post. I have this little glass paperweight on my desktop, is there any reason that wouldn't be just as suitable as a piece of rough to examine the marks the laps leave? and should I still plan on running the machine wet? because as is I don't have a very nice set up just yet and would like to keep the mess to a minimum for now if it's only going to be a quick test.

I return, I've already put in a request to join the USFG yahoo group. The test cutting is more like the kind of information  I was hoping for, I don't know why I didn't think to just grind something and examine the grooves. I guess I was worried about fouling up something delicate by going in blind.

As for whether my intent was to cut cabs or facet, it is most definitely leaning to facet gemstones to put into settings. I wasn't aware that people used flat laps for cutting cabs instead of a grinder, that seems very unpractical, or is that the reason you're one of the few who do so?

With any luck, this should be a picture.

Thank you all, I will most certainly look into throwing the money at that organization to get on their roster for the newsletter. I look forward to spending time admiring the works of beauty on the forum.

 So, I am brand new to the forum and to rockhounding and lapidary in general. However, over the summer I managed to get a used Ultratec v2 from a man on craigslist even on a modest starving college student's budget. I've been doing plenty of research and plan to jump in soon and take the plunge to buy laps.
 
The problem, however, is that along with the machine, I received a box full of laps and lap shaped objects. Only two of the nine have any markings on them to indicate the grit number. One of them appears to be a piece of sand paper the previous owner has affixed to a disk of plywood. And another still seems to be a piece of plastic. Now I'm sure that not all of them are laps, but I wondered if anybody would be able to clue me in on if they are some kind of common tool in usage for something.
 
Of the discs that I'm positive are plain cutting/polsihing laps, they have been used for sure, but I wondered if there were a way to identify what size grit is on  a wheel, or if they are in need of recharging.

I'll try to post a picture in a minute so that you helpful people can save a clueless person's life and wallet. The idea being that if I can use any of these, it'll keep me from having to break into buying spendy fresh laps to get started cutting for the furst time.

 Hi all, I Joined the forum a few weeks back but am just now posting. I'm a Sophomore in College working at a Bachelor's in Geology and have become enamored of all the beautiful stones in the world. Last year I bought a rock tumbler through eBay and have run a batch through successfully. However, I've now developed a new interest in tandem and finished paying off a used faceting machine from craigslist.
 I joined the forum in hopes of learning enough to get started in faceting. I intend to start a thread elsewhere at some point to detail what I got with my machine and am especially looking for information on what laps would be best to use.