Thread: Do I really need a lap stone?

Originally Posted by khaos

(for about the fourth time)
So if I just sandpaper my way through the Swaty, will I need a lapping plate soon? Do factory hones need to be lapped? How often do you think Thuringens need lapping? The factory hones? In number of razors, and please consider that I am not aspiring to have a hone flat to .00000000001" every time I sit down to hone, I am saying the point where I NEED to lap.
Currently I'm looking at getting a 10x4 DMT X/C, but if I don't really need it, well, thats cash in my pocket.

The Swaty, likely never. The Thurigien will hardly need it, since you will just be finishing. But the Nortons need frequent lapping. No you don't need it to be, nor will you be able to lap them to that degree of flatness, but they work best lapped before each honing session. 10x4 is hardly necessary, an 8x3 DMT8C will do. But if you will be sticking to Nortons, this would be a very good buy. Or get a DMT 8K and you will never need to lap at all.

I just ordered an 8x3 DMT8C from SRD...it should be coming Friday/Saturday - it was less than $45...it should be worth it, as I have been using wet/dry sandpaper, and while it works, it is messy and somewhat time consuming. If I can cut the time and do the lapping in the sink with the water running, the convenience alone will pay for itself. And it will never need lapping itself (unlike the Norton flattening stone).

Originally Posted by Razorburne

I just ordered an 8x3 DMT8C from SRD...it should be coming Friday/Saturday - it was less than $45...it should be worth it, as I have been using wet/dry sandpaper, and while it works, it is messy and somewhat time consuming. If I can cut the time and do the lapping in the sink with the water running, the convenience alone will pay for itself. And it will never need lapping itself (unlike the Norton flattening stone).

Exactly right!

Originally Posted by Razorburne

I just ordered an 8x3 DMT8C from SRD...it should be coming Friday/Saturday - it was less than $45...it should be worth it, as I have been using wet/dry sandpaper, and while it works, it is messy and somewhat time consuming. If I can cut the time and do the lapping in the sink with the water running, the convenience alone will pay for itself. And it will never need lapping itself (unlike the Norton flattening stone).

OK, I have a DMT8C as a lapping stone and my question might be silly, but here goes:
Does the DMT8C as a lapping stone needs to be lapped too? By what grit? A Wet and dry 80 grit sandpaper? Or is the DMT8C so tough that will ALWAYS remain perfectly flat? Does lapping a lapping stone makes sense? I told you it would be a silly question...

Thanks

Surprised no one answered your question yet.

The answer is no. If you have a diamond plate, its good until the diamonds wear out. If you have something like the norton lapping stone, you have to lap that with a diamond stone or something similar. Or sandpaper.

I will either be getting the Nortons or a set of Henckels. And I read somewhere that the Norton lapping plate breaks down.

I have 7 Norton hones. Every single one of them desperately needed to be lapped before its first use. They do not come flat. They are not even close to flat. Even if they did, with use they become dished so you need to have some kind of lapping method in place.

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.

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.