Thread: New Naniwa 12000, lapping necessary?

Okay, I've never honed or sharpened anything in my life. I purchased a Naniwa in 12,000 grit so that I can do my own honing. From my reading I am left confused. I need to "lap" the stone before first use? I procure a lapping sheet for this? My searching has not left me feeling confident in what I need to do. If anybody can point me to where this question has been explained on the level somebody with my practical intelligence (low), I was be very appreciative!

Also, there has to be a good video guide to the actual honing process. If you know of one, I'd love to see it! Thanks.

You need to lap it flat and, especially since you are a beginner, you also need to chamfer the two long edges at the top of the hone. You can do this with a sheet of wet/dry sandpaper on a flat surface.

If you are a bachelor and live alone, spray a little water on a countertop, lay the sandpaper out on top of the water and press it out flat. Spray a liberal amount of water on the sandpaper and the hone. Let both soak a couple of minutes and keep re-wetting each during that time as needed. Draw a few cross hatched grid lines lightly on the hone with a pencil. Invert the hone onto the sandpaper and perform figure eight movements with just the weight of the hone--holding the sandpaper in place if needed. Monitor lapping by checking the grid lines and keep rinsing the top of the hone of built up slurry. Keep everything wet. When the grid lines are gone, draw them again and repeat and check to see if the lines all are removed simultaneously. If they are, then the hone is flat. If not, then repeat again.

If you are married or involved with anyone, do this at a bachelor friend's house, or do it inside of a flat cookie pan, or be prepared to buy flowers.

Start with a lower grit sandpaper around 300 grit. Repeat with a sheet around 1000 grit.

I actually round off all four edges.

Better safe then sorry!

Originally Posted by lemisanthrope

Okay, I've never honed or sharpened anything in my life. I purchased a Naniwa in 12,000 grit so that I can do my own honing. From my reading I am left confused. I need to "lap" the stone before first use? I procure a lapping sheet for this? My searching has not left me feeling confident in what I need to do. If anybody can point me to where this question has been explained on the level somebody with my practical intelligence (low), I was be very appreciative!

Also, there has to be a good video guide to the actual honing process. If you know of one, I'd love to see it! Thanks.

You can maintain the edge on your razor but for a complete honing job it takes (or at least for me) a combination of stones. All this is covered in several videos on you tube. The ones I think of is done by Lynn Abrams. just look up Lynn Abram you tube on honing with naniwa stones.

Originally Posted by Aldwyn

I actually round off all four edges.

Better safe then sorry!

Rounding off the ends has nothing to do with "safe." The long sides are rounded over in case the blade is not kept flat on the hone. Rounding over the ends serves no purpose other than aesthetics, as you never hone to, or past, the end of the hone.

Originally Posted by lemisanthrope

Okay, I've never honed or sharpened anything in my life. I purchased a Naniwa in 12,000 grit so that I can do my own honing. From my reading I am left confused. I need to "lap" the stone before first use? I procure a lapping sheet for this? My searching has not left me feeling confident in what I need to do. If anybody can point me to where this question has been explained on the level somebody with my practical intelligence (low), I was be very appreciative!

Also, there has to be a good video guide to the actual honing process. If you know of one, I'd love to see it! Thanks.

Hone Lapping 101 - Straight Razor Place Library

I always chamfer the ends and round the corners on my fine Jnats. True, you don't need to do this for honing's sake, but a sharp edge or corner just doesn't hold up well to life's other insults, tapping a nagura on it or getting too close to the edge, little tap on the sink or faucet, bump against the stone holder/table/etc that happens to all of us.

Cheers, Steve

A simple answer to whether you need to flatten your stone is, lay it on a flat surface, such as glass. Check if it's sitting flat (press along the egdes and corners to make sure it is sitting tight).

Moving on, take a pen and criss-cross the whole surface of the hone. Take a piece of glass, wrap 600-800 sandpaper around it tight. Run it flat on the hone until you see your pen marks start being removed. Check how they are removed (i.e. evenly, or not). If they aren't being removed evenly, go to a 300 or 400 grit paper and sand, either on the counter top, as suggested above, or with the piece of glass wrapped in sand paper untill all pen marks are gone.

If you have the option to get a diamond lapping plate, such as a DMT, by all means go and get it.

Hope that helps somewhat.

Absolutely lap the stone as described above.

I just began dabbling in honing, and my Naniwa 12k needed to be flattened.
As an experiment, after lapping it, I mounted it in a Steelex stone holder and repeated the grid/lap process.

Long story short - clamping in the holder made the stone bow.

If you're going to use a stone holder, lap the stone while it is actually IN the holder!

This was on one of the thinner Naniwa's, so it may not apply to thicker synthetics and naturals...

I would look to Lynn's tutorial as well as Glenn's from this site on YT. If I understand you correctly you will ultimately need more than just a 12K stone. I may have misunderstood you but seems like you may have only a 12K stone.

I have a 1k Norton and a 4k/8k Norton combo. The 1k for bevel setting when you need to set one and I have a DMT Dia Sharpe for lapping as well as my Norton which is no where as good as the DMT stone. Then I have a Shapton 12k imposter as I say and a Naniwa 12k. Today my mystery Thuringian came in from Germany which may be a very nice MST Muller 8-10k range as well.

And I am no where like some of these guys who have many more stones than me. I just have the basics. Now you can set a cutting edge from what I have read by a 8k but you will want to really get that blade to a 10k+ or even to a Thuringian/Escher or a Belgian stone for finishing them off. Then after that you will want a dedicated leather with CroMox impregnated on it to take the bite off then of course stropped prior to use with a plain leather strop.

It is crazy for sure what you can buy and invest in! I have added things slowly over the last several months. I did not even begin to try and hone or touch up until watching "nipper" here on this site and Richard a couple of times then I watched Lynn on YT as well as Glenn over and over to get an idea.

Have fun and if you have someone near you that is experienced seek them out for help.