Thread: Naniwa Flattening Stone

I'm new to straight razor shaving, about 3 months now. I've just bought my first set of hones. They are Chosera 1k, SS 3k, 5k, 8k and 12k. I also purchased the NANIWA Flattening Stone Grain size 220. It's a huge thing, measuring 12x6x¾". It looks really course and although the instructions are in Japanese, it says to sprinkle the silcon carbide powder on it to speed up the process. I have also purchased this grey powder.

Before I start lapping my 'brand new' stones, I was hoping that someone may have some experience with this setup. Should the stone just be lightly wet as like honing? How much lapping is generally required, before every use or less? I'm assuming firgure of 8 motion but would love to hear if anyone else uses it. There is nothing on you-tube regarding this trueing stone. Do brnad new stones even require lapping and this stone looks like its so course I will take a lot off.

As of now, I've not honed any razor yet. I'm not wanting go straight into bevel setting etc, just taking things easy, step by step. I've got a shave ready razor that is just starting to go dull, so will try a few laps of the 8 then 12K stones and see how I get on. Here are some pics of the stone from the web.