Thread: Lapping advice

I picked up a very dished Ark soft today, any advice on a time effective way to lap this? This stone is HARD!!

I have heard that using lapping grits on a very hard plate can work well. And I would think that letting the slurry and lapping grits build would speed things up, as well, but that's just conjecture.

I literally started on my sidewalk, which seems to work, but terrible on my back.

Whenever I lap a dished out Arkie, I start with my belt sander loaded with a 50 grit belt. This usually gets it mostly flat. Then I just progress with normal lapping with wet dry paper and sewing machine oil to smooth it out.

Coarse paper on a flat surface to fix the dishing.
Here's a link with vid : http://straightrazorpalace.com/advan...tml#post906441

You can buy coarse & fine valve lapping paste at automotive suppliers. Used with oil or water on glass it's a pretty time effective method but messy.
Silicon carbide powders are even better & come in a variety of grits. Even work well on Spyderco ceramics .

I just did this with a chinese 12k and it worked like gangbusters. Used a granite floor tile, 220, 500 SiC and 9 u Al Oxide. Way faster than the sandpaper. I flattened the slurry stone too, then used it to finish the hone. I tried this after reading so many horror stories about how hard these were to lap - it was really easy.

I finally got it flat, it took 3 sheets of 60 grit paper and a few hours of on and off sanding, then finished on a 325 DMT and an 800 diamond plate. It turned out very well!

Use the Back side...

Serously I have found the back side, even it I had to break the box to get it out to be pristine. Wet Sand Paper and diamond pastes on a granite plate will get you there. Arks are diamond plate trashers, don't waste a plate on it.