Hone Lapping Service

Hey all,

So I have all the equipment for lapping, but don't really have all that many stones to lap... I will be getting the Shapton set, but since I am also getting the DGLP the Shaptons are going to be lapped solely by the DGLP (except the coarsest grits).

A while ago I won an old Swaty off ebay and lapped it with my small Norton diamond hone. It worked alright, but it didn't leave the surface as smooth and glassy as I wanted, and wasn't perfectly flat since my little hone wasn't as flat as a DMT or better yet a granite surface plate. ChrisL very generously offered to lap it with progressively finer grits on a very flat surface, just for the cost of return shipping. I took him up on the offer and was extremely pleased with the finished product: a very nicely finished Swaty hone. Since now I have the equipment to do such a thing myself, I would like to continue this spirit of generousity and offer this service myself to anyone interested.

I have a DMT D8C and a nice 9"x12" granite surface place accurate to within 0.0001", so damn flat. I have some lapping films, currently 15 micron, 5 micron, and 0.5 micron sheets, as well as wet/dry sandpaper from 400-2000 grit. I really have nothing to use it on now, and would like to use it to offer a free lapping service.

I will lap any stone, but I feel it would be most beneficial to someone who has bought/won an old barber hone that needs to be lapped, but doesn't wish to invest in any of the equipment for optimal performance (i.e. perfect flatness) or spend the time doing it. To have the smoothest finish, a barber hone, such as a Swaty, can be lapped up to a very fine grit to give it that glassy feeling back. It will never have exactly same colour as it did before lapping, but it will indeed be very smooth and work just as good as new or better. I can lap it up to any grit finish the person wishes (although I think 0.5 micron on a stone is extremely useless :p).

I will lap it initially on my DMT, then use wet/dry paper or micro abrasives on my granite plate to finish the surface and to ensure it's PERFECTLY flat (to within 0.0001"). All I ask for this is the cost of return shipping. I'm in Ontario, Canada, btw, so shipping to the states isn't expensive.

I don't know if anyone will take me up on my offer (since some people would just like to buy some sandpaper and go at it themselves) but if you do not have access to an exceedingly flat surface (i.e. my granite surface plate) and are a stickler for perfection, like me, than I'm your man. :D I like to keep busy and I enjoy lapping stones oddly enough....

If anyone's interested just PM me, and I'll give you my shipping address.

Happy honing!

You're going to love the flatness of the Shapton DGLP relative to the DMT. As it also has grooves, you'll find it loading less too! Now, if you mount a Shap pond on your granite surface plate, you'll have a great surface that's non vibrating, very flat, and very steady.

Sounds like a good offer, Dave and if end up lapping a lot of barber hones, a great alternative to building huge biceps and triceps!

I did take some stones up to .5 micron (the green non-PSA 3M lapping film) on my surface plate but found that the stiction is such that it's nearly impossible to lap extremely flat stones on that fine of film even when a bit of dish soap was added to the water. The edges of the stone would invariably catch on the film after the stiction locked the stones down, marring the film and causing great frustration. That was taking it to an extreme for entertainment sake anyway.

Good offer. I'm sure it will be appreciated.

Chris L

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Originally Posted by Howard

You're going to love the flatness of the Shapton DGLP relative to the DMT. As it also has grooves, you'll find it loading less too! Now, if you mount a Shap pond on your granite surface plate, you'll have a great surface that's non vibrating, very flat, and very steady.

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I've heard nothing but fantastic things about the DGLP, so I am indeed looking forward to trying it! I actually have considered just sitting the stone holder on top of the granite surface plate, as that should be sturdy enough for me. Who knows, I might even break down and buy the Shapton pond in the future. :D

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Originally Posted by ChrisL

Sounds like a good offer, Dave and if end up lapping a lot of barber hones, a great alternative to building huge biceps and triceps!

I did take some stones up to .5 micron (the green non-PSA 3M lapping film) on my surface plate but found that the stiction is such that it's nearly impossible to lap extremely flat stones on that fine of film even when a bit of dish soap was added to the water. The edges of the stone would invariably catch on the film after the stiction locked the stones down, marring the film and causing great frustration. That was taking it to an extreme for entertainment sake anyway.

Good offer. I'm sure it will be appreciated.

Chris L

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Well it was your generousity that spawned this thread in the first place, so thank YOU! I actually tried lapping my Nakayama down to the 0.5 micron paper (the same green chromium oxide paper you have I'm sure) and I didn't notice any improvement over the 5 micron, so definitely overkill.

Thank you for a great offer
Dave. Unfortunately i have too many of them to send

It would be so nice to have you in germany!
What a great idea!

What a great offer.

Would you lap a spyderco UF? :P

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Originally Posted by Leighton

What a great offer.

Would you lap a spyderco UF? :P

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If you do, do not take this hone to your GDLP, it will tear it up. This hone is extremely hard and in most cases really doesn't need any lapping.

Lynn

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Originally Posted by hi_bud_gl

Thank you for a great offer
Dave. Unfortunately i have too many of them to send

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What a smartass. :rolleyes:

One of these days I need to go to your place and really just LOOK at your hones... just kind of soak it all in, you know?

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Originally Posted by joke1176

What a smartass. :rolleyes:

One of these days I need to go to your place and really just LOOK at your hones... just kind of soak it all in, you know?

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You know we don't have luck in our doors. It is open for your always just be strong enough and drive 1,50 minutes without sleeping behind steerling wheel i even will provide vodka +beer +lovely stones +ugly razors.

That sounds like a great offer. :)

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Originally Posted by hi_bud_gl

You know we don't have luck in our doors. It is open for your always just be strong enough and drive 1,50 minutes without sleeping behind steerling wheel i even will provide vodka +beer +lovely stones +ugly razors.

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So if you drink enough the ugly razors turn pretty? :beer2:

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Originally Posted by Ben325e

So if you drink enough the ugly razors turn pretty? :beer2:

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I find it a winning strategy to avoid scaring myself away from the mirror when shaving. ;)

Unfortunately it seems that my DMT is losing diamonds on the surface....It's not dead and still has most of its diamonds, but I realized how worn it's been getting when I was lapping with it today. There are small patches that grew during the lapping (under running water I might add) where the diamonds are gone. I think it would be best to retire it from barber hones as they would only hurt it now. :(

So I will have to suspend this service until/if I get new equipment for rough lapping. Sorry!

I don't know a whole lot about them, but I think they have vibratory rock polishers that are designed to abrade a stone perfectly flat. They're expensive (like 300$), but if you wanted to offer a service asking 7-20 bucks (depending on the hone) you'd get the cost back and start making some money after a while, and provide a needed service. I know I'd rather just pay someone then try to lap a Arkansas stone or Spyderco UF again... that really is a chore.

Seems to me there was a recent post advising not to lap a Swaty on the DMT ...

Can anyone remember that post or tell me whether or not it's OK to Lap a Swaty on my DMT 8C ??

Jerry~~~~~~

I have Leightons famous DMT8XXC that went through some spyderco work. It still laps Nortons and other barber hones that I have picked up. It is a totally awesome lapper and maybe it is cause he tammed it down a bit I really love the surface it leaves on them.
Mike

The reason I asked about the Swaty is because when I lapped it, I noticed a brown spot in the center of the DMT and it won't come out. It still laps other stones but I will not use it for a Swaty anymore.

Because of the brown spot, I don't recommend lapping a Swaty on the DMT 8C.

Jerry.....

I'm actually going to get a DMT D8XXC sometime in the future. It's apparently a beast with lapping. So I will offer the lapping service again once I get that stone, and can lap even the hardest barber hones. :D