Thread: Is My Razor Sharp Enough?

Originally Posted by Marshal

It isn't so much that brand new stones are not flat, but you do need to 1 - make sure your stone is flat because razors are particularly picky, and 2 - ensure that the surface of the stone is prepared properly (this is the big one, particularly with Synthetics).

Hey thanks, I went looking for sand paper Christmas Eve, but the store where I went didn't have anything except small sheets. I'll try a hardware store tomorrow. Hopefully, I can find some. I also bought 1000 and 8000 stones of the same name. If I can get the sandpaper tomorrow, I intend to lap all four stones (Niwana 1K 5K 8K 12K), and then try to figure out the beveling. Driving a truck around all week, I don't have much free time, so it might take me a year or two at this speed. (Ha! Ha!)

If you are going to lap with sandpaper, then it needs to be wet/dry sandpaper. Regular sandpaper will release grit that can embed into the hone, causing more trouble.

If you drive for a living, you may not want to make the effort, but you would be welcome to drive to my place in Rochester MN (250 miles down I-90) for a honing lesson. Some time with the hones and microscope should help sort you out fairly quickly.

Originally Posted by Utopian

If you are going to lap with sandpaper, then it needs to be wet/dry sandpaper. Regular sandpaper will release grit that can embed into the hone, causing more trouble.

If you drive for a living, you may not want to make the effort, but you would be welcome to drive to my place in Rochester MN (250 miles down I-90) for a honing lesson. Some time with the hones and microscope should help sort you out fairly quickly.

Yes, I was going to get some 400 wet/dry. Someone elsewhere on this forum suggested 3M or a good brand, but Menards only had large sheets of the rougher grits. Their 400 wet/dry was barely bigger than my stones. Hopefully, Ace H/W will have it. Thanks for offering a honing lesson. I do get to the Eastern side of MN quite often, but rarely have time to stop and get a bite to eat. I had to deliver a while back in Austin, and then over in Winona. But I'll keep you in mind.

If you're referring to the half sheet sand paper that measures about 9x3.5 inches, that's what I use to lap my hones. It's approximately the same dimensions as a lapping hone/DMT. When I do get the full size sheets I end up tearing them in half because they don't fit inside the old baking pan I use as a honing/lapping station.

The ones I was referring to didn't seem to be half sheet size - instead smaller. Anyway, I already got full size sheets. I had read a lapping thread on here that said put water on counter, then lay the sand paper down on that, then add water, draw lines on the top of the stone w/a pencil, and start lapping.

You do it on the counter if you are single.
If you are married or living with a significant other, then you do it inside an old baking pan or cookie sheet.

That's the gist of it. I use the baking pan instead of a bare counter top to contain the mess.

Sounds like I should too.

Originally Posted by Marshal

That's the gist of it. I use the baking pan instead of a bare counter top to contain the mess.

I lap with w&d paper, full sheets on a 1ft² granite or marble tile I got from home depot. To contain any mess, I sit a lid from one of the 30~ish gallon storage Tupperware containers we have around the house. I sit the lid on the carpet, put down some of that non-slip cabinet liner pad stuff, then the tile, then the sand paper. Because they are designed to be stackable, the lid has a slight/flattened bowl shape to it.

I hope this was helpful.