Thread: Does a Naniwa 12K Super stone need lapping

I've had a Naniwa 12K for several months and it has gotten quite a bit of metal shavings on the surface from several uses. There aren't any directions that came with it and I'm wondering if it is meant to be lapped or if there is another means of maintenance to remove the shavings. I have the lapping plate that came with my set of Nortons so, I do have a lapping plate. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Originally Posted by kcarlisle

I've had a Naniwa 12K for several months and it has gotten quite a bit of metal shavings on the surface from several uses. There aren't any directions that came with it and I'm wondering if it is meant to be lapped or if there is another means of maintenance to remove the shavings. I have the lapping plate that came with my set of Nortons so, I do have a lapping plate. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

yes go head lap it.

Originally Posted by kcarlisle

I've had a Naniwa 12K for several months and it has gotten quite a bit of metal shavings on the surface from several uses. There aren't any directions that came with it and I'm wondering if it is meant to be lapped or if there is another means of maintenance to remove the shavings. I have the lapping plate that came with my set of Nortons so, I do have a lapping plate. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

+1 on advice from hi_bud_gl

Just spray it lap it quickly and lightly then hone away.
When you lap it try to remove less than half the
thickness of a sheet of paper or less each time.

Take advantage of the slurry for the first 1/3 of
the honing session... dilute for the second third
and hone with clear water to finish.

If you soak if for 10 min always soak it for 10 min,
if you spray it always spray it. The more consistent
you are with water the flatter it will stay.

You'll get the best out of your naniwa if you do some figure 8 laps on the naniwa before each use. That will also helpp you avoid major lapping sessions periodically.

I re-lap my Naniwas before every use. It removes any metal from the surface, exposes new clean grit, and ensures that the hone is flat.

I only lap as much as I need to to remove all the metal from the surface. Once I see a fully clean hone, I'm done.

kcarlisle,

+1 to the above sage advice.

The Naniwa SSs use 'grit' dipsersed in IIRC a resin matrix; such stones, like nautural waterstones, work best with a clean surface; as has been said above, this exposes fresh 'grit' to do the cutting. (I don't know if the 'grits' used by Naniwa are frangible or not)

If my Naniwas are anything to go by, the initial lapping takes a bit of time, as my Naniwas were far from flat; subsequent lappings take very little time at all - if you look at the excellent videos from GSSixgun, it really is a matter of a few tens of seconds !

Have fun !

Best regards

Russ

To keep the metal filings from building up you should be sure to use water on the hone while honing. Not a lot, just a spritz and whenever you see that metal residue, called "swarf", starting to appear while honing just rinse it with water and your fingers. Do not allow it to build up on the hone. The general procedure is to lightly refresh ( clean, lap) the surface of the hone just before a honing session. I use a scrub brush/nylon dish pad under running water when possible or a light lapping on 1000 grit wet/dry sandpaper (use it wet).
This gives you the best honing surface.

Hope this helps,

Originally Posted by Disburden

You'll get the best out of your naniwa if you do some figure 8 laps on the naniwa before each use. That will also helpp you avoid major lapping sessions periodically.

+1 to this. I've been using Glen's system, in which you do 5 figure 8's (I use a DMT 325) on the Nani ss before you use them. I've been getting very good results. Plus, it keeps your stones clean and lapped.

I would pick up the DMT 325 plate for your lapping as the Norton plate gunks up on the Naniwa stones. A lot of the swarf will rub off under running water on the Naniwa, but what doesn't should be lapped off.

Have fun,

Lynn

What's the DMT 325 plate? This is new to me. Will this work on my Norton stones as well? To be honest, I can't say I'm all that pleased with the results I get with the Norton lapping plate on the Norton stones and, last night, it didn't do that well on the Naniwa SS.

Thanks!