Question on stone

This is not for razors, but my father-in-law uses a two sided/two grit water stone to sharpen kitchen knifes, and he has worn a concave surface into it. (And, ah, yeah, he's not the best sharpener).

Now that I am trying my hand at sharpening/honing, I thought I would try to repair his stone and give it back to him.

I tried sanding it but I'd go through a lot of sand paper before getting it close to flat again. It is a cheap stone, relatively speaking, and one side--the side that is least flat, is a pretty low grit (guessing 300-500, but what do I know).

Anyway, I don't want to use an expensive shapton lapping plate on it. Am I being too paranoid?

Are there other options (like rub it on a rock?)

The cheap way is to use sand paper - wet it and stick it to a flat surface like a piece of glass or tile. I think it is the carbon-silicide wet and dry variety of sandpaper, not the cheaper equivalent. Use a coarse grit and you shouldnt need too much -saying that I don't know how bowed it is!

I don't know about the shapton lapping plate having never used one, but others will chime in I am sure. I personally would use a DMT 325.

Coarse hones can wear out sanding paper in no time which could make it cheaper to buy a DMT. You can however start with sanding mesh, it's much faster than sanding paper and lasts very long if you're not lapping a Hard Arkansas :D

If it is the cheap dual sided hone you see at a lot of hardware stores, you will probably spend more in sandpaper than the cost of a replacement stone.

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Originally Posted by Slartibartfast

If it is the cheap dual sided hone you see at a lot of hardware stores, you will probably spend more in sandpaper than the cost of a replacement stone.

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I agree . You can buy a brand new one for less than the cost of the sand paper it would take to lap it flat . Not to mention the hours of time you will save (carborundum is some really hard stuff) .