Thread: Black stuff on hone after lapping

I have several Naniwa superstones, in 3k/5k/8k/12k grits. I also have the Naniwa jumbo 220 grit lapping plate. On my first honing attempt (a few months back) I skipped the lapping step, partially because I was excited to hone, and partially because I was thinking "how far off from flat could they be, fresh from the factory?". Well the honing job didn't turn out so good, so I sent my two razors for professional sharpening (preferring at that time to focus on shaving rather than honing technique).

Today I ventured forth to hone one of my razors again, and this time I didn't skip the lapping step. Wow - every stone needed 15-20 minutes of constant lapping to get all of the the pencil marks off (I did it in the bottom of a sink, under running water as per the wiki. No wonder my first honing job turned out like crap (in addition to my overall noob-ness, of course).

Now the problem is that the hones were left with a lot of small black spots on the surface - I assume (but am not sure) this is embedded material from the lapping plate? I was careful (or think I was) to "let the stone do the work" during lapping. Is this black stuff normal?

When I put the hones under running water and try to clean off the black stff with my fingers, the surface felt quite smooth and not much comes off. Rubbing the hone surfaces with my fingers when dry does start to rub this stuff off, and it also starts to scrape up during honing itself. I went ahead and honed my razor anyway - will find out tomorrow morning how I did .

Anyway: has anyone else seen this stuff on a hone after lapping? Is there a good way to get it off? I have seen some references to something called a "dressing stone", but am not sure exactly what that is.

thx,
Jay

Originally Posted by jay98014

I have several Naniwa superstones, in 3k/5k/8k/12k ....snip....
Now the problem is that the hones were left with a lot of small black spots on the surface - I assume (but am not sure) this is embedded material from the lapping plate? I was careful (or think I was) to "let the stone do the work" during lapping. Is this black stuff normal?
....snip....

For now ignore it but when you use the hones use
half a drop of dish soap in a bucket of water to rinse
and keep the hones wet with. With Superstones
there is no need to soak. Dip rub with your palm
dip again and quickly touch the lap then hone away.

All hones have irregular surfaces to one degree or another it
is possible that these are just bits of steel swarf left on the surface.
Or they are bits of gum from a label or who knows.

Prior to using the hone again wet it in the bucket and give it
a 30 second lapping to flatten the surface. The hones
change dimensions a bit as they go from wet to dry and dry to
wet. As you develop honing habits the accumulation of 30 second
visits to the lap at the beginning of a honing session will result
in a fine flat hone. Combine with finishing X strokes and all will
be good. Modest X strokes make minor hone issues vanish.

Once the hone gets flat then you can skip most of the visits to
the lap or reduce them to one or two swipes.