Thread: 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 ).

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. 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!