Scratch marks

Hello...

I was wondering, whats your grit for lapping?
Do you go up the grit until there are no scratch marks left in the stone or are you satisfied wit the stone as it comes of your DMT 325 or whatever you use for lapping with grit under 400?
Could it be that my stones lost their full honing capability due to lapping with too high grit? There used to be metal particles in water after I did 10 laps, and now there aren't any still after 40+ laps.
For example, on my King 6000 scratch marks disapered after 1500 grit sandpaper.

Any input is welcome...

I use a 325 grit DMT to lap all my Shaptons, from 1k right up to 16k and it works absolutely fine.

I lapped them when I first got them to make sure they were flat, and now I only lap them when swarf has built up on the surface.

I dont think you need to go through umpteen grits for your hones, just making sure they are flat and clean is enough.

As long as you dont use loads of pressure when lapping the DMT 325 should be fine, and shouldnt leave any scratches or anything.

I lap with a DMTC, but after that I rub the lapped stone with another, finer, nonporous stone. For this last step, I have used a Swaty, a C12k, and a Spyderco medium.