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I just bought a Norton 4K/8K combo stone and a Norton Flattening stone. I noticed that after using it on the 4k side there are fairly deep scratches in it as well as the 8k side. I was flipping the stone 180 degrees and also using it under a stream of water as I have seen in some of the videos. Is this normal (probably not) and is the Flattening stone only good for rough lapping or do I need to use wet sandpaper or DMT to finish?
Norton lapping stones are some what notorious for not lapping stones flat. 325 DMT is your best bet...sorry you bought it.
It does leave deep scratches at first. After a while the lapping stone smooths a bit and the scratches aren't as deep.
The norton lapping plate leaves an okay surface, not a great one. Eventually you may want to lap on a diamond plate of course or fine grit.
Michael
I don't think those lapping stones are brilliant.
You can get a Diamond plate to do all your lapping for a very reasonable price. If your on a budget have a look at the Eze-lap range. They do an 8x3 400 grit plate for under $50.
Amazon.com: EZE-LAP 81M 3 by 8 Medium Diamond Stone: Home Improvement
You have to abuse a new plate on something hard for a few mins. Like a concrete slab or some steel. Just to knock off the high diamonds. Check the one they sent you is flat before you use it. If it's not flat send it back, they have a guarantee for that.
All of the stone type lapping plates are known to have similar problems. Sometimes there not flat, sometimes they shed grit. I don't think they were designed to make a hone good for razors. Rather to remove the deep scoring and dishing that happens if your using a stone on knives, chisels, axes ect.
I just the a lower thread about Lapping stones. I would appear that the DMT is the way to go. I can still use wet/dry sandpaper to smooth it out. The flattening stone does work at removing the amount of stone needed to remove the grittyness that Lynn talks about with the 4k side. I new I'd need to get a DMT someday but cost starting out is a factor. I was just wondering if the large scratches was something I was doing incorrectly.
If your hones are flat it's one less problem to add into all the other problems you'll encounter when learning to hone. If the surface of the hone can be guaranteed then the only thing that can be causing you to fail to make a perfect bevel is technique and the razor itself.Quote:
Originally Posted by JosephHoffer