Thread: How often do you lap your Naniwa stones?

I have a Naniwa 3000/8000 combination stone. When it is freshly lapped it is covered in speckles. I suspect that these speckles are the compound that does most of the cutting. Recently I have been finding that these speckles become loaded with black stuff very quickly and the hone doesn't seem to be working effectively.

So I wanted to ask you all who use Naniwa stones, how often do you lap your stones? After honing how many razors do your Naniwas become loaded up with black stuff?

On my Nani's, I use a DMT D8C under running water, it reduces swarf build up....

in my experience the lower grits load faster.
that is why I never liked the 1k, and switched to other options.
I now have a 5k and a 10k superstones. The 5k loads fairly fast but not before its seen a few razors, the 10 loads much slower. The loading you can fix by rubbing with hand, or by using 1.2k dmt to clean the surface up. The loaded surface is not a sign of dishing, you can check if the surface is not flat after you hone 5-10 razors. Keep in mind that lower grit stones dish faster than higher grit stones.

The Naniwa Super 1K is pretty much my go to stone on the front end of my honing process. The speckles are just part of the way the stones are made and they all have them. Based on the color of the stone, some are more visible than others. I normally lap these stones or any for that matter after every use which for me is normally 12-24 razors at a sitting. I would do the same even if it was 1 razor or a couple as my personal preference is not to leave any of the swarf or black stuff on the stone and then I am ready for the next session. Normally this is not an issue on my natural finishing stones and I either leave the light slurry on them to dry or rinse them off with water.

have fun,

Lynn

Originally Posted by Lynn

I normally lap these stones or any for that matter after every use which for me is normally 12-24 razors at a sitting. I would do the same even if it was 1 razor or a couple as my personal preference is not to leave any of the swarf or black stuff on the stone and then I am ready for the next session.

HUGE +1

Except I don't average as many per sitting as Lynn I only do 20-30 per week but I just do a light "lapping" after I am done to clean the stone and be ready for the next session.. I do a full grid line lapping on them once a month about 100 razors...
This also varies with the razors I am honing, major restores take way more time on the stones....

Originally Posted by zib

On my Nani's, I use a DMT D8C under running water, it reduces swarf build up....

do you use the 325 grit one?