Thread: Lapping / Slurry stone question not covered in the Wiki

Originally Posted by MarkinLondon

It was an 80 grit plate? It must have been very uneven to require that low a grit.

The glass plate I used is just standard glass I took out of a container

I place the $3 diamond hone on the glass to keep it flat. I noticed when using it in hand it bends a little.

Mark in London,

I've been using the Atoma #400 diamond plates for about 4 years now and found them to be a good value at about $125 for a 8 1/4 x 3 inch size. The electroplated nickle process to fix the diamonds is excellent and I have no indication of ever having lost a diamond and I have never had a diamond chip show up in the slurry of any of my sharpening sessions. The diamonds do however, as with any diamond plate, gradually soften their action so that over time the 400 plate begins to feel like a 600 or 800 action. This is not all that bad though because when a plate softens like that I reserve it for my more expensive and rare stones where I desire to minimize the lapping action.

One thing about doing a serious resurface job on a stone is that the amount of stone material you eventually remove has to itself be removed from the lapping surface matrix in order to progress with speed. This stone swarf clogs the lapper and unless you can rinse it out the speed is greatly slowed down. A diamond plate, Shapton or Atoma is great because it can be imersed and rinsed off in a bucket of water with a bursh and once done it regains 100% of its lapping strength. The backing I have found of sand paper including wet/dry emory or garnet or whatever does eventully loose its ability to hold the grit, so not only does the grit loose its sharp cutting edges but the grit also falls off the paper.

About using your Charnley as a water stone after it was used as an oil stone, if you are going to lap the CF you may get below the oil stained areas faster than you think, and once you do you might just try using it as a water stone. I have done this with Arkansas's that had been oil stones and they will perform excellent with water and a light slurry created with a DN (diamond nagura). Alx

If you want to use your CF stone with slurry, but you do not want to use diamond plates, why not saw a little piece from your CF and use it as a slurry stone. Laugh if i'm wrong: i do not know anything about CF stones, rather this was just me thinking aloud

$125 for a lapping plate! That's too rich for my blood. I havent picked up the DMT because it's £55!

But.... it seems like I've got a lot of lapping to do. I've got an Aloxite barber hone that needs help, a Charnley on the way, and next month a Dragon's Tongue will be delivered. I've also got an ancient Tam O'Shanter that's nowhere near flat.

I did see a heavy (14lbs) Norton cast iron lapping plate that has deep figure-eight grooves cut into it. It's only about £20. No one uses that, right?

I'm going to end up dropping the 50 quid on an 8x3 DMT plate, aren't I?

Yep!

Seriously, that 325 DMT is a great investment and not just for lapping. You can also use it for razors that have chips or need any other major bevel work doing.

When you get that eBay razor with a chip in the edge you'll be glad of that DMT..! You'll have the chip out in short order and all your hones will be lapped flatter than a flat thing.

I wouldnt recommend spending the money if you didnt need it, but I really do think that a 325 DMT is one of those stones thats worth its weight in gold.

If you've got that much lapping, you may be better off with a DMTXXC and then a DMTC or wet/dry sandpaper to remove scratches.

Originally Posted by holli4pirating

If you've got that much lapping, you may be better off with a DMTXXC and then a DMTC or wet/dry sandpaper to remove scratches.

I DO have a lot of lapping to do!! It's about to be a crazy month of dissertation writing and hone lapping.

I cant make heads or tails out of the DMT product line. What's the DMTXXC? And why is it different?

If you post a link to the DMT website then I'll know what to look for in London.

The DMTXXC is the Extra Extra coarse. I believe it is 120 grit. The difference is the grit. In general, we are referring to the continuous, single grit DMT's. The letters at the end are the grit. A number, if any (it would be 6, 8, or 10) is the length of the plate (the widths vary, but all of a given length are the same width, so only the length need be given). Dunno DMT's website offhand.

There is in fact a non-synthetic Slurry-Stone (aka. Nagura) solution,
besides (obviously) using a similar or identical stone to create mud.

I recently purchased a Tsushima Black Nagura.
It is a black chunk that is used to create mud.
Rumors say it is mined under the sea... IDK

Japanische Schleifsteine für Küchen- und Rasiermesser ::

Anyhow, this stone creates mud perfectly AND I have not ever noticed
any sideffects. And you guys know I am picky with scratches etc.

I use this nagura on my Naniwa Super 10k and get a perfect mirror
instantly (I mean 40x-100x mag. perfection).
I use it on my nakayama or ohira and get the hazy finish they usually provide.

I don´t know why, but it works.
It´s expensive, though.

Besides this I use a DMT card in fine.
Handy, creates slurry on anything... what more could you ask for?


The problem with every slurry creating action with a stone
considerably smaller than the CF: you will get uneven wear.
This means you will have to lap it more often,
but it doesn´t mean you have to lap it much, anyway.
Instead of every 100 razors, maybe every 50 now...

OK... I've got it now. It's the 120-grit DiaSharp Extra-Extra Course 8". If I've got "that much honing to do" then I'll hate 325-grit regular Course, right?

Is it still foolish to ask my I would choose such a course plate? Wouldn't it leave a rough surface on my hone?