Thread: Lapping?

Wet for me.grits from 120 to finish out on 1500 .

I did sandpaper dry on a dry stone

Originally Posted by Blistersteel

Wet for me.grits from 120 to finish out on 1500 .

How did going to a grit as fine as 1500 help? I have wondered about this especially on the higher grit stones. I've thought on grit stone 4k and higher maybe a finer grit lapping stone would leave the stone smoother. I never tried it or asked about it though. I have DMT stones up to extra-fine I could use but haven't. I did wonder if a stone might wear out the finer grit diamond stones faster.

Side subject about diamond stones:
I've only used DMT stones but I believe they all require a break-in period. Whenever I get a new DMT stone I use it for about 3 minutes on a water stone to break-in the entire surface of the DMT plate. When breaking them in just by using them some of the surface doesn't get contacted by the blade edge. Therefore that area remains coarse. I want to break in the entire surface of the stone so it will cut consistently on the entire surface. Some people actually rub two diamond stones together. DMT recommended I do that once and I ruined my new stone. They replaced it. I think I rubbed them together too long or too hard. But using water stones and light pressure I've had good results so far. Once a diamond stone is broken in I love the performance. Until then they are like using a grit one or two levels coarser than you have. Example: Brand new EF stone cuts like a fine grit or almost like a coarse stone after they are broken in. These are my opinions and not to be mistaken for advice. Just what I do.

Most would use wet and dry paper snd water. For the dmt break in is usually by using some steel (angle, screw driver, bar etc) run over it to even the plate out and remove the high spots. Using on a stone could leave bits in the stone.

I'll go the wet/dry sandpaper route now that I know its an option. Thanks for the input guys.

Wet and dry is fine to lap, but can be a pain to touch up and refresh a stone face. It depends how often you are honing.

The CKTG, 30 dollar 140grit 8X3 stone is a great diamond lapping plate for the money. There are also some good diamond plates on Ebay that work very well for lapping and some razor maintenance for a fraction of the cost, I have used some of them for years.

Gentleman,

Im have a very similar question. I've decided I'm tired of my sandpaper lapping method and want a 325 DMT. Can I use a small card version of dmt? Can I lap with a stone smaller than my hone? Also can I use that same "lapping" stone as a small slurry stone? Or does my slurry stone need to be the same material as my norton 4k/8k?

The small card version will work for raising slurry and refreshing the surface and if you do it with care, those actions will contribute somewhat to keeping the hone sort of flat. However, i would occasionally go back to the sandpaper on a flat surface to make certain it is flat. It will be a trade-off between convenience and precision.

Ok so maybe I'll keep lapping with sandpaper and use a small dmt as a slurry stone. Thanks!

Originally Posted by seanreum1

Gentleman,

Im have a very similar question. I've decided I'm tired of my sandpaper lapping method and want a 325 DMT. Can I use a small card version of dmt? Can I lap with a stone smaller than my hone? Also can I use that same "lapping" stone as a small slurry stone? Or does my slurry stone need to be the same material as my norton 4k/8k?

I've been using the 140 grit stone from chefknivestogo.com for a couple of years. It's still working fine. No sign of any significant loss of abrasiveness. I got the DMT coarse (325) stone the other day. I had it in mind as a sharpening stone as well as a lapping stone. I normally use any diamond stone like a lapping stone when it's brand new. This breaks in the new diamond stone quicker IMO than just using it. Using it as a lapping stone also ensures the entire surface is broken in evenly. Anyway, as a lapping stone I thing I'd rather go witht the extra-coarse DMT. My 140 grit stone flattens my Shapton glass stones faster than the DMT stone did. Even as a brand new stone when it is a bit coarser than after the break in. I think the 140 grit stone on CKTG is a great lapping stone. Especially for the money.

The only problem I could see in using a smaller stone would be if you spent more time at one end of your hones. The hones may be clean but they may not be perfectly flat. IMO it's better to use sandpaper on a flat surface than a smaller stone like the DMT credit card size or smaller.