Thread: New hone needs flattening

Hey guys I just bought a new norton combo 4000/8000 and it says it needs to be flattened before use. Was wondering what the easiest way to go about doing that would be; also whats a good technique so I dont mess it up. Any input on this subject is greatly appreciated.

There are a couple of ways to lap new stones: DMT11C or DMT8C diamond hone or wet/dry sandpaper on a piece of granite or marble tile.

Check this out: Hone Lapping 101 - Straight Razor Place Wiki

we have a lot fo threads about lapping,
I used the search function on the forum and came up with one of them
http://straightrazorpalace.com/honin...ing-101-a.html

there are many others too.

I soak mine and then flatten it on a flat piece of sidewalk--works good.
Gary

that makes me cringe.. do you flatten it with anything else after the sidewalk or just the sidewalk?

I just got my hones this afternoon, I'm paying particular attention to this.

Originally Posted by gtho150

I soak mine and then flatten it on a flat piece of sidewalk--works good.
Gary

Please do not recommend this to ANYONE. If it works fine for you, great.

Straight razors are precision/delicate instruments that require the use of good & relatively flat hones. I would not allow any of my stones to come in contact with a sidewalk on purpose. Sounds like your experience is more related with knives & not razors.

I once used concrete to grind the end of a chipped hone into shape.
It left a rough surface - I would not want to use it to finish the face of a stone.

That said; it could actually be useful for rough surfacing of severely dished hones to get them close to flat, then finishing with a DMT, etc...

When I get mine I'm going to use wet and dry sandpaper on a glass topped outdoor table. I reckon the glass topped table is probably the only truly flat surface I have...I'll also of course use the method where one draws a grid of lines on the stones, and when all lines are removed it's flat. This is probably not a REAL helpful post, but it's what I've learnt about lapping so far...

Carl, when all the lines are gone, I suggest re-drawing them and going back to the W&D just to make sure all is good. You can sometimes have the slurry produced erasing some of your lines pre-maturely.