Conditioning new honing stones

All,
I m relatively new so bear with me. I have purchased a Norton 4000/8000, a ILR 12000, and a Shapton 16000. Is there anything I need to do to the stones before setting my blades to them? IE lapping, or slurry,etc....

Thanks

The ILR is not even clear whether it is a natural or synthetic hone but it ain't 12k regardless. I would suggest that you use either it or the 16k, but not both in a progression. You can go from the 8k to the 16k just fine.

For the Nortons and the Shapton, just lap them till they are flat and then they are good to go.

The 4k MIGHT need extra lapping. Some of them have an occasional bit of aberrant grit in it that you can feel and/or hear when you are honing. If you encounter one of them, then you will need to lap it more until that bit of grit is gone.

Yes they need to be lapped

Especially the Norton 4k they take a bit of work to get them cutting smooth

Fact:

The ILR is not a 12k

Using it between the 8k and the 16k will set you back a few steps in the honing learning curve

Hint:

go 4-8 until you are getting CCS
add the 16 until you feel comfortable
Then mess with the 4-8- ILR for a different feel


Good luck ask questions Hone On !!!



( :) Ron and I typing at the same time )

Thanks, I thought lapping would be part of it. Right now the only way of lapping that I have available is a synthetic cutting board and wet/dry sand paper. Do you recommend what grit I should be using to lap?

For synthetics? 320 is good to get them flat, then I like 1,000 to get the scratches from the 320 out. YMMV.

Only thing I'd add is you have to take a good 1/16-1/8" off the Norton 4K to get to the good stuff.

Thanks for all the advice.