Quote Originally Posted by DaveMartell View Post
Does everyone know that you need to lap/flatten a new hone right out of the box before use?

I've read a lot on razor forums where people use stones right out of the box without lapping them first. I've seen it in pictures and noted many making comments about this.
really? this is all news to me. can you point out the pictures which show unlapped hones? for as far as i remember lapping the hones has been considered standard and necessary practice on this forum. as a matter of fact josh earl made a photo tutorial a year or two back of lapping with sandpaper (the cheap version) and it's been part of the wiki for a long time now.

for example lynn has repeatedly posted that the current production nortons require some good lapping to go past the more grainy top surface.
when i just bought my naniwas last year glen told me to give the 1000 good lapping several times leaving it to dry in between, it certainly started working properly after that.