Thread: Norton Maintainance

How do you lap your Nortons when you first get them, and how often?

I lapped mine when I first got them, and after a couple thousand strokes, decided I either didn't do a good enough job the first time, or they were ready again. My regimen is sandpaper on glass and hash marks. I go through 220, 400, 600, 1k and 1500 grit. I also bevel the edges.

On my 4k, there was a piece of walnut under the sand paper that gouged the stone deep after only a couple of strokes, 'til I found it. I have a couple of loops that are barely visible. I don't know if I should lap them out or not, but so far it looks like the hone is doing it's job with them.

TIA

Goog

I use a DMT plate (125 and 320) and thats all. I use the 125 only on stones under 6k, 6k plus I finish with the 320 plate. Leaves my stones nice and flat.

But I also don't have any stones above about 8k, including the nortons.

I use a DMT Continuous 320 grit for lapping my hones. I hold the DMT in my left hand and the hone to be lapped in my right hand. I then run the hone to be lapped in small circles over the DMT. This is all done in the sink under a little bit of running tap water. You can read about this in the Wiki. Nortons need to be lapped often (Every 4-5 razors or so depending on steel removal), but not as much as the Naniwa super stones, imo, which like to be lapped almost every time I hone on them. Make sure to round the corners and edges of the hone when you lap it.

I used to use Norton wet/dry sandpaper all the time, but the DMT was one of the best investments I have made. It's way better than sandpaper, imho.

Originally Posted by greatgoogamooga

How do you lap your Nortons when you first get them, and how often?

I lapped mine when I first got them, and after a couple thousand strokes, decided I either didn't do a good enough job the first time, or they were ready again. My regimen is sandpaper on glass and hash marks. I go through 220, 400, 600, 1k and 1500 grit. I also bevel the edges.

On my 4k, there was a piece of walnut under the sand paper that gouged the stone deep after only a couple of strokes, 'til I found it. I have a couple of loops that are barely visible. I don't know if I should lap them out or not, but so far it looks like the hone is doing it's job with them.

TIA

Goog

Some of the 4k have a gritty feel on the hone when you are honing. You just need to lap until you are no longer hitting any grit. By the time you accomplish that, the hone should be flat but if you draw and remove gridlines then you will know that for sure.

The scratches on the hone don't matter. They are below the surface of the one so they should have no impact on the honing. If you don't feel them when honing, then you're fine.

Lapping the Nortons accomplishes more than just keeping the hones flat. It also refreshes the surface to remove swarf. For that reason, I prefer to do frequent mini-lapping sessions rather than waiting until the hone is clearly dished.

I don't think you need to use the finer grits for lapping. Certainly 600 is more than enough in my opinion, though others may disagree.

Honestly "Lapping" is a once every 200 razors or so for me, I am talking where I actually get the pencil out and do grid lines...and this might change too as they are never out of straightness anymore, since I started the regime below...

Anymore I just do 10 figure 8's per stone before I start a honing session on either the DMT 325 or the Shapton DGLP before I start honing on that stone...That cleans the stone and keeps it flat at the same time..
I believe that is what Ron means by a mini-lapping session too...

PS: This is on the Synthetics my Nortons, Shaptons, or Naniwas..

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Anymore I just do 10 figure 8's per stone before I start a honing session on either the DMT 325 or the Shapton DGLP before I start honing on that stone...That cleans the stone and keeps it flat at the same time..
I believe that is what Ron means by a mini-lapping session too...

Yup. I suppose clarity is more helpful than ambiguity.

That's what I meant too, lapping regularly to clean the swarf from the Norton and Naniwas.

I've been told that you should never lap a stone with anything that has a grit finer than the stone being lapped. The smaller grit can clog the coarser grit stone. I don't know if you're lapping a 1k or less, but if so, definitely get rid of the 1500 grit sandpaper.

Also, like the others, I only lap or de-swarf stones with a single lapping stone which is a pretty coarse grit. (low 300's IIRC)

I do not believe you are gaining anything by continuing past 400 grit.

I lap my synthetics every time i use them/

Originally Posted by kevint

I do not believe you are gaining anything by continuing past 400 grit.

I mis-understood that part but yeah +1 with Kevint and Utopian /Ron,,, I never found any real advantage to going higher then 400 either...