Thread: Hone lapping on a glass plate with silicon carbide powder - pictures

I am not sure if anyone have ever posted some pictures on how to make hone lapping on a glass plate with silicon carbide powder.



Basically what you will heed is piece of glass 5 mm or 1/4" thick, 300x410 mm or 12x16", masking tape, I am using my son's panting knife and silicon carbide 220, 400, 600, 1200 grit. I've paid something like $6 bucks for powder.



Make border with masking tape to prevent slurry from spilling



Cover that with another layer of masking tape, and stick this to the surface



add a little silicon carbide and water




now, with regular circular motions lap the hone



I found this to be the best, fastest and cheapest way to lap the hone with amazing quality!

Isn't Silicon Carbide way harder than the glass?

Yep, much harder. However I lapped this way not only J-nats, but also Shaptons, PHIG, arkansas and hindostan stones (really hard stone) with the same excellent result. Amazing! I knew this for years, but for same reason never tried myself. Now this is the only way for me to lap the stones.

You don't even need glass (see my earlier thread). I used a granite floor tile and it worked just fine.
I don't think the grit size is especially critical either - I used 220 SiC and 500 SiC. What is interesting is that you get a different kind of surface (more 'matte') because the grains are cutting by tumbling, rather than scraping).
What surprised me is that amount of difficulty that some reported on chinese 12ks - I had the saw marks out in less than 5 min.
This, really, is the way to go.

Do you do this for each grit of the powder?

Think about it exactly like razor honing. When you have to make initial honing - you are using lower grit and than move up. If you need to just refresh the hone - 1200 enough.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Isn't Silicon Carbide way harder than the glass?

Yes it is & the glass is sacrificial but you will get thru a number of stones before needing to flip the glass over. Finishing with a diamond plate will establish if the glass has lost flatness. It's the quickest method I've used on hard naturals & even the dreaded Spydie UF.

Originally Posted by invention13

I used a granite floor tile and it worked just fine.

Sure it worked. Soon or later you will have mat spot on the floor which will not looks nice. Piece of glass will cost you about 2 bucks, and you can change it any time. A little more difficult with the floor...

With hard varieties, lapping is a hopeless chore. Especially Rozsutec, Charnley Forest and Arkansas are very hard hones. Lapping them takes considerable time, not to mention muscle ache. Perseverance in this case may result in lasting damage to both health and hones…

Given the considerable amount of hones yet waiting to be flattened, I had to come up with something to spare my not-quite-so-young back and muscles. After some thinking, I came up with an old bicycle wheel mounted in a steel frame.

The wheel is used with silicon carbide of grit K220 - K600. As it dusts easily, the latter can only be used whet, and that's why I made the outer rim. It keeps the water on the plate and thus prevents any messiness. The upper fork is hinged and fitted with a leaning rake to rest the stone unto. Therefore, little force is required during grinding. Dry the plate after use with a cloth to prevent oxidation.

See for more details Grinding and Honing part 2 Index website Henk en Ge Bos page 40

Margeja

Great site, too bad I don't speak and can't read the language, just lurk