Thread: 12" x 2.5" Diamond plate or 8" x 3".

I've read that too. I aprreciate the versatility of the D8C, beyond lapping and the occasional very sad looking razor it does a lot of work sharpening my knives & tools. For rough lapping of hard stones in the house I've been using a long, slim peice of marble & rolls of aluminium oxide paper.

Try some dry wall mesh Proinsias.

Toolstation > Painting & Decorating > Sanding Paper > Sanding Mesh

It's silicone carbide on a really hard wearing webbing. It takes an absolute pounding before it fails. And doesn't clog.

Thanks, will give it a shot.

Yup, they work, used them for years.

There is a guy on EBay selling thin 1k plates 8X3 for under 20 bucks ( about $17, last time I purchased they were 12, when I first bought). I use them as is, but you can glue them to a tile.

And CKTG has a great, thick 30 dollar 140 grit plate for lapping stones.

For slurry the credit card plates work well.

Some of these may not be dead flat, but they are not potato chip ether, really it does not matter unless you hone the blade on the exact same spots each lap, impossible.

Loose silicon carbide on a cookie sheet on a marble tile or cement floor works great for flatting a stone, and quickly. The cookie sheet contains the mess. Gotgrit.com for loose grit.

Here is the link for 3 grits diamond plates, he also sells them individually and other sizes.


EBay diamond plates

For doing Ark type hardness stones, you need much more that 400 grit, I start at 60 grit loose Silicon Carbide to get to flat, a teaspoon is all you need add as it wears out. A little goes a long way, go up to 120 grit with loose then drywall screen and then Wet and Dry. With the cookie sheet on the floor you can use your weight on the stone.

The EBay diamond plate guy sells 12X12 plates also, but Ark hardness will ruin any diamond plate.

For lapping, pick up a plastic tray, the kind use in fast food restaurants. I get them at thrift stores for a buck.

Right been into town today, and I found a granite worktop saver in one of the supermarkets. After following some of the advice given.

It's 400mm (15 - 3/4) x 300mm (12) x 15mm (5/8). Looks to be made very flat. My 24" steel ruler is only showing very minor light leak on the 400 length, and almost no light leak on the 300mm length. I think this was a good buy for £10 (wilko).

Wilko Granite Work Top Saver at wilko.com

I'll continue to look into diamond plates as well as I get to grips with my new surface.

Have you tried your local kitchen worktop company? Often they have offcuts in their skip which they are willing to give you for free.
I will have to go soon too again as I managed to break my 40x10" plate into three pieces. Then you can just either use loose grit or stick on it belt or paper. If you look against light they will show if they are warped.