Thread: How often to lap a hone

Originally Posted by Utopian

Ok, so you have not seen the varied response to soaking. If you look at this thread I started, you will see that some hones respond differently than others.

lol - thanks for the link Ron, I do remember reading some of that thread awhile ago, I promise when I have a free afternoon I'll get through the whole thing. But it does likely backup what I'm saying about honers having to learn how to get the best out of their individual hones

Originally Posted by Ryan82

lol - thanks for the link Ron, I do remember reading some of that thread awhile ago, I promise when I have a free afternoon I'll get through the whole thing. But it does likely backup what I'm saying about honers having to learn how to get the best out of their individual hones

Yep this is a grand topic.
First off +1 to all the senior responses above.
Utopian's link is a good visit and worth the time.

Lynn's experience is vast and if you need
one answer read his.

When I got my Naniwa12K I set out to lap
it flat. I was frustrated with the results so I set
out to experiment.

I let it dry bone dry and drew a grid
on it then dunked in in a bucket of
water and lapped it.

I thought I had it flat but being cautious
one more time... grid and lap... durn
it is not flat so new grid, dunk in in the
bucket and lap it again. Fresh grid
check it and it is not flat....

I fumed futzed dunked and abused a great hone
for an hour ate lunch and worried it gain for an hour
or more.

What I learned is a list:
+ the hone is soft and quickly clogs the lap even under running water.
this can protect the grid.
+ the hone changes dimension as it takes up water so flat
now is not flat in 20 min.
+ the hone takes up water bit by bit for HOURS perhaps for days.

I tried wrapping it in a plastic bag to keep it wet and that
helped but for more than over night this is not recommended.
It will grow a slime coat and that is just not cool.

Like the original poster I have a single face to shave
and as a result I only need to hone/ refresh my select
shavers once a month or even three times a year.
Thus the hone needs to be stored bone dry for weeks
on end.

Unlike the OP I have rotations of blades that let
me tinker for an afternoon instead of the fifteen
min that two shavers take to refresh.

My recommendation:
Spray the hone and very lightly lap/ rub it for a light slurry.
Spray as needed and hone your razor taking advantage
of the slurry that lapping gave you.
Dilute the slurry by rinsing slurry off the razor and
spraying the hone surface. A small wave in front of the edge is
a good thing.

Repeat for the second razor.
Repeat for the third razor.
...
Repeat as needed.

When finished lightly lap, rinse clean
and put away so it can slowly air dry.

And:
If you are honing razors day in and
day out the hone will never fully dry
between use and the dimensional
dynamics will vanish...

If like me you hone in fits and starts weeks
perhaps months apart just spritz the
surface lightly lap for a slurry. No big
dip and dunk except at the end to clean
the hone for storage.