Thread: Do I really need a lap stone?

Originally Posted by khaos

Thanks for the encouragement. I just don't want to **** something I paid a lot for up.

Whatever method/tool you chose you'll do fine. Some of this stuff sounds more complicated than it is. Once you try it much of the info and advice floating around (which can be confusing) will make more sense. Hey...if you're smart enough to want to use a straight razor lapping will be no problem.

above you have great advises . i would like to add 1 more . you don't have to spend 100 or 50 or 20 for lapping stone.
check ebay there is guy selling dmt dual side 150/600 it is made in china and price is 9$ .i think shipping include. i use it every time if i need lap any stone. it does leave a little scratches but it isn't a big problem. hope this helps.

You don't need a lapping stone. Sandpaper on your countertop/tile/etc is fine. The lapping stones are mostly for convenience/efficiency.

They do make life a lot easier, but if you're looking to save money for now, don't sweat it. Do expect your swaty to be a bear to lap the first (only?) time, though, and the nortons take a while the first time as well. Once everything is flat, touchup lappings are a breeze save for the inconvenience the sandpaper adds.

Eventually, you'll get fed up with getting out and setting up the sandpaper and buy a D8C

Originally Posted by pjrage

Eventually, you'll get fed up with getting out and setting up the sandpaper and buy a D8C

That's exactly what happened to me. I thought I would never drop the dime on a lapping plate if the sandpaper would suffice, but low and behold my SRD shipment should be here in a day or two!

Originally Posted by Utopian

The DMT8C is adequate for lapping but if you want to lap a barber hone, or anything else that is hard or of low grit, do yourself a favor and put a piece of coarse wet/dry sandpaper on top of the DMT plate (remember, it's a flat surface) and lap with that to save your diamonds.

I heard DMTs are aggressive at first. Would it be feasible to just lap it on a brand new D8C? This will break in the D8C and calm it down, as well as lap the Swaty while the D8c is at its most aggressive. Unless thats not good enough, or will kill rather than tame the D8C. Please advise.

I still have a fairly new DMT D8C, and it was more aggressive at first. After trying to break it in using the shank of a screwdriver for a bit I lapped my nortons. Perhaps since it wasn't really broken in yet (these suckers are tough) but the surface may not have been quite as smooth as it is now when I lap using the DMT.

This is just my personal opinion and don't really have much to back it up...But in my head it seems to make more sense that breaking in a DMT is a lot more important if you're going to use it to actually hone your razor with, i.e. use your razor directly on it. For lapping I don't find it to be as important. Worse case scenario is that when you're using a non-broken in DMT D8C there's a diamond that's slightly higher so it leaves some superficial scratches on the stones surface, and perhaps just slightly rougher than if lapped on a more broked in one. Honestly, I haven't found any problem using a stone with a couple superficial scratches as it doesn't affect it at all.

Now back to your original question. Getting by with just sandpaper works just fine, but you have to ask yourself this: Even if you use sandpaper because it's cheaper, do you see yourself getting a stone for lapping down the road? If yes, just buy it now and save the money you would've spent on the sandpaper. If no, then just be happy with the sandpaper.

Originally Posted by khaos

I heard DMTs are aggressive at first. Would it be feasible to just lap it on a brand new D8C? This will break in the D8C and calm it down, as well as lap the Swaty while the D8c is at its most aggressive. Unless thats not good enough, or will kill rather than tame the D8C. Please advise.

Having tried that, the answer is yes, but your going ot want to shoot yourself after the first 2 hours. Assuming the stone is anything like the spyderco F or even medium. Lapping those barber hones is a big pain and the only thing that makes the job easier is a lot of packs of 120 grit 3m sandpaper or a 120 grit diamond stone.

Originally Posted by Leighton

Having tried that, the answer is yes, but your going ot want to shoot yourself after the first 2 hours. Assuming the stone is anything like the spyderco F or even medium. Lapping those barber hones is a big pain and the only thing that makes the job easier is a lot of packs of 120 grit 3m sandpaper or a 120 grit diamond stone.

Try the 3M sandblaster 120 grit paper. You can find it at autozone. Good stuff. It absolutely tears up naturals, but it handled the swaty pretty well also. Lasts a long time and the slurry doesn't clog it.

The 325 can take a while to lap a Swaty. I start with 125 grit and finish on a 325 +.

I sometimes use a hard barber hone to help break-in a new DMT. A hardened piece of steel seems to work faster.

I think the Swaty is roughly equal in hardness to a Spyderco medium. The white Spydercos were the hardest thing I've ever lapped, with the possible exception of a Carborundum Co. barber hone.

Okay. So I will be getting some kind of DMT 320 grit/Coarse. However, since I will probably need something rougher for the Swaty, and I decided I want something a little finer to finish, I stopped by autoworks and got the following: a 3-pack of 3M 80 grit wet/dry paper, a 3-pack of 3M Sandblaster 120 grit paper, and a 4 sheet variety pack of 3M wet/dry paper that I think goes 400 600 800 1000. All of them are the large sheets. I also stopped by Lowes and picked up a marble tile, I laid two of them together and light didn't shine through and it produced suction, so I'm guessing that means its pretty darn flat right? So I plan to use the Sandblaster, as I think 80 is too coarse, but my question is, can I use it wet? No where on it does it say wet/dry, so I wasn't sure, which is why I got the 80 grit wet dry, just in case. After I lap my rocks on the DMT I want to give them a quick run through on the finer papers. Did I get the right stuff?
I found an iron pipe in my garage, can I hit the DMT with that? It looks kinda gunky. Would I be better off going to the dollar store and getting a ****ty knife?