I bought my Chinese 12k to sharpen razors, :D not smooth out scratch patterns on hones, so it was free for me!
I probably wouldn't buy one just for that purpose, though.
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If you can keep your Shaptons flat with the C12k then it must be working. I would not have thought it would cut fast enough to be practical for that purpose, but I don't have one, so there.
Back before I had lapping stones, I used barber hones to do the job. It was very slow, but it worked. More recently, I was lapping with a coarse DMT, and I took out the remaining scratches with a Swaty. So long as everything is non-porus and you're not getting grit embedded in stones, I don't see why not.
And in the long run it should be cheaper than sandpaper, since the stones will take quite some time to "run out."
For what it worth, I cut grooves in my 12k like a Norton flatening stone and lapped it with an Extra coarse DMT and chamfered ALL edges. I have been flatening my Shapton 16000, 12000 and my Norton 8000. The 12k leaves the surface on the polishing stones better than any other method I have used and it does so with cosiderable speed. I believe the mode of how it works is because the 12k is so hard relative to the other stones. So as many of us would LOVE to flatten with a fine DMT we now know that would quickly destroy the Nickel binder. I believe the 12k once flat will stay that way for a long time and only need an occasional lap to keep it true. By the very nature of these finer water stones, I always like to keep them optimum but not to wear them down so fast, so for the price of the 12k give it a try, it works for me and it can work for you!
Even if you flatten with a DGLP I believe the "12k Lapper" will give your polishing stone that etra finese that will afford more effective abrasive to bevel contact.
Mike
Well, I read this thread and due to recently lapping some of my stones and deciding not to use my dmt1200 anymore, I figured I would try what Kingfish(Mike) has already done. I modified one side of my Chinese 12k a bit to look like a Norton lapping plate and must admit that it works very well.
http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w...nese12kMod.jpg
http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w...ese12kMod2.jpg