Thread: hone lapping question

finally got around to lapping my AM hone co. hone.
i used some 600 grit wetordry on a piece of marble. I did a test on a razor with a warn spine and noticed the scratch pattern was what i would consider coarse for this type on hone. should i go finer with the paper ( i don't have any stones yet) and if so, how fine to get it to it's original condition?

You lapped a very hard synthetic hone, approx. 10K with 0,6K lapping paper. I would not be surprised if that left sharp-edged grooves on the surface of your hone. I guess you will need to move up the grit ladder with your lapping paper, I usually end with 4 lapping paper on much softer Thuringen hones.

I would suggest going as high as possible with paper then using a bit or steel or something like a screwdriver shaft run over it to kill any edges and burnish it. Good luck. Ed

I just lapped some barber's hones and a carborundum one with a DMT325 and it felt smooth to the hand. After reading this post I tried some finer emery paper, as the old hone box recommended. Fine in emery paper is pretty coarse. The hone actually felt smoother with the DMT325.

I final lap all my finishers with a DMT 1200.

does the grit of the final lapping plate or paper or stone determine the grit of the barbers hone? (it would be logical if it's true that the 600 grit paper left grooves in my hone). Has anyone used 3M's polishing paper? i think it goes up to 8k. they also make a lapping film that's measured in Microns.

Im a little anal with lapping, but I do the low grit atoma if I have to then use a 600 chosera slurry stone(works well but don't use it on a suita Jnat, suitas tend to have small holes and the 600 grit will get stuck in the holes)then 1200 atoma, then I use a bbw to get it very smooth. Depends of course on the grit and how hard the hone your lapping is. Look at the surface with a loupe(10x) you will be surprised what you see.

I take mine up to 1500 or 2000 if I have some lying around.

+1 on finishing lapping with 1000+ grit on finer stones. I don't know if it makes THAT much of a difference stopping at 1k, 1.5k, or 2k but as a general rule I go at least to 1k lapping on finishers.