Sticker on Naniwa

I received a new Naniwa 8k a couple days ago and for those who have bought them you know they are sold with a sticker on the face of the stone that needs to be peeled off before use.

When I peeled mine off, it left a large amount of sticky 'residue' behind, I tried to get it off with sandpaper and my lapping stone. It feels as though it is gone now but I still can see a relatively clear outline of where the sticker was. Is there any chance that there is still a very fine 'grain' of this residue still on the stone that can affect its performance? Has anyone else had this problem when they buy these stones?

I am not a pro, but after i lapped min there was still a discolored area, it disapered after i honed 1 or 2 razors on it. din't sem to affect anything.

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Originally Posted by larryforce

I am not a pro, but after i lapped min there was still a discolored area, it disapered after i honed 1 or 2 razors on it. din't sem to affect anything.

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This was the same experience I had. The dark spot didn't seem to hurt the function of the stone, so I didn't worry about it very much. I am glad to know it wasn't just my stones that had this experience.

Pretty much everyone has the sticker "Shock" :)

The advice I came up with was, Grid lap 2 times, hone 1 razor grid lap again IIRC it has been a long time but I remember it took a bit before they settled in... Lynn will hopefully chime in he has done more of them then anyone else...

Naniwa Superstones are pretty much impermeable so anything on them is only on the surface and not worth worrying about, regardless of how it looks.

Certainly hasn't affected any I've used. Pull the sticker off, diamond plate the stone flat and sharpen away. The discolouration 'might' affect the stone, but it'll go away soon enough with use.

Unless you try sharpening without removing any surface residue. That doesn't work very well. DAMHIKT...

Stu.

I've put this question to Naniwa as we sell more than a few of their superstones and this questions was asked of us a few times by customers. They assure me without reservation that the sticker does no harm to the stone at all and the discoloration when removed is also harmless. They suggest just using the hone and it will disappear after a few strokes anyway. I can confirm this from personal use.

yep it did come off pretty easily (after lapping) but it was frustrating and concerning at first. I personally think it has no use being on the stone but that's my opinion.

I would follow gssixgun's advice!
When I got mine I had real trouble getting the lower grit ones to cut properly.
2 or 3 pencil grids lapped off of them, and they all came together beautifully.
I lapped them with the Naniwa 220 grit lapping stone, the only lapping stone I had at the time.