Thread: My lapping experience

The norton should be soaked for ~30 minutes before lapping, and the wet/dry sandpaper should be used wet.

Thanks for the replies.

I used a marble tile for the lapping (ala Home Depot) because I could not find a pane of glass. But I know where I can get one...the marble tile seemd pretty falt to me, and cost a whole 3 bucks.

I used wet/dry sandpaper dry for the first pass (after soaking the stones) because once I wet it, it not only turns into a soup but sticks to the stone, drowns the tape holding it to the tile, and starts moving, making the lapping process end pretty quickly. The water does unclog the sand paper pretty quickly, but keeping it still becomes a major chore.

The scratches are pretty prounounced, so I think I am just going to have the lap them out - the indentation in teh 4k was very pronounced, and I think it really was the reason why I was getting what appeared to be uneven swarf marks on the stones - I am washing these things after every honing session, but water alone was not getting the swarf off the stones, so I had some foaming dial hand soap (which is pretty mild) on the sink and decided try and use the foam to lift out the discoloration, and it seems to work well - my luck it will be that I am somehow screwing the stone up doing that - any suggestions?

HOWEVER, all said and done, I took the razor to the 1m and .5m pasted paddle and test shaved last night - and it was ... amazing. I don't know if it was just that I finally had a sharp enough razor by my own hand to shave with or what, but it was the best shave I have ever had - I only did one side of my face, and then ran to the wife to have her feel the results - and even she was amazed. I will be posting picts soon.

K

Well your lapping application still needs work honestly, but your shaving sounds pretty good! I think most guys would be happy that!

Kriton,

The marble tile should work well--that's what I use.

If you soak the sandpaper for a minute or two before starting the lapping, the back will be wet. It will form a suction on the smooth marble; you don't need to tape the paper down. If the back is dry it will slide around.

I think you need to get those grooves out. I did that to my stone by trying to lap it with a smaller water hone. Get some coarser paper, maybe 320 or 220 grit. That'll make it go much faster.

The sandpaper shouldn't leave any discoloration on the stone if used wet. My white 4K is brilliant after lapping.

If you get the 1K flat with some coarse paper (220 to 400 grit) it will work very well to lap the 4K and 8K. Just keep the stones wet and rub them together.

Good luck,
Josh

I appreciate the responses - went to the flea market to day and found a 6/8 Goldedge and old square tip Henckel with notch for some serious restoration work at a reasonable price - this truly is getting out of hand.

I will post the Bengall pictures, it is something special.

Thanks for the tips Josh, I will try it again.

K