Thread: Please help me identify this misty hone.

Originally Posted by smythe

Ahhh my friend, they don’t call me “Cheap Mad Scientist” for nothing.
220 grit silicium carbide powder and a glass plate makes a most effective lapping solution, it takes but a pinch of the stuff on the plate with a few drops of water and the most stubborn stones will bleed slurry.
8oz 220 grit SIC powder… $9
12”x12” glass plate… $5
Lifetime of easy lapping hard stones… priceless.

Clean by brushing soft stones thoroughly after use.

Got my gear today!
What happens to the SIC powder after use?
Reuse, rinse down or better dispose to garbage can?

Just tried on a real hard Rozsutek and it works so great I can hardly believe it.
If I have had that last week I could have saved about two days of work.

Originally Posted by 0livia

Got my gear today!
What happens to the SIC powder after use?
Reuse, rinse down or better dispose to garbage can?

Just tried on a real hard Rozsutek and it works so great I can hardly believe it.
If I have had that last week I could have saved about two days of work.

Easiest thing is just to vacuum it up, at least thats what I do. I think it grinds the powder down so you couldn't really reuse it. Maybe you could if you were lapping a soft hone, but the stuff really isn't very expensive.

Thank you!
I scraped it up and put the stuff on a paper towel now.
Into the garbage it goes.
The glass plate suffered a little, LOL
Will see if I can dumpster dive a stove top plate.

Sorry to reply so late... Glad it worked out for you Olivia, I use a "pinch" (maybe a 1/4 tee spoon or less) and few drops of water to make a runny paste (no dust). The grits will be ground to a fine "silt" and is unusable for further flatting, so you may wash away the silt, add fresh grits and lap again.
However if you plan to lap with finer and finer grits after the stone is flat, you may want to continue lapping with the fine silt to make the surface smoother in preparation for finer grits.

I don't have finer SIC grits so after flatting and smoothing with the silt, I use fine sandpaper to finish the surface smoother. Because the hard work is done by the SIC, the work with sandpaper is much easier.

Have a good one

Thank you so much!
I'm so grateful for that method!
There are a lot of hones coming my way.

Originally Posted by 0livia

There are a lot of hones coming my way.

Oo! Promising! Please keep us posted!

Originally Posted by smythe

Sorry to reply so late... Glad it worked out for you Olivia, I use a "pinch" (maybe a 1/4 tee spoon or less) and few drops of water to make a runny paste (no dust). The grits will be ground to a fine "silt" and is unusable for further flatting, so you may wash away the silt, add fresh grits and lap again.
However if you plan to lap with finer and finer grits after the stone is flat, you may want to continue lapping with the fine silt to make the surface smoother in preparation for finer grits.

I don't have finer SIC grits so after flatting and smoothing with the silt, I use fine sandpaper to finish the surface smoother. Because the hard work is done by the SIC, the work with sandpaper is much easier.

Have a good one

I actually went to a 600 grit followed by cerium oxide (stuff to polish glass). It seems like its actually more effective if you just go to fine sandpaper after you get everything nice and flat. The spyedrco I lapped with the higher grits ended up much smoother when I finally ran it over some paper-but I may not have given it enough time with the finer grits, I was pretty sick of lapping the thing at that point. I think I did, though.