Thread: Lapping new Shapton Glass stones...with sandpaper?

Ok, you guys convinced me. Just bought an Atoma 1200 to use all the way up to the Shapton 16K.

God my wife is going to kill me.

Originally Posted by supersco

Ok, you guys convinced me. Just bought an Atoma 1200 to use all the way up to the Shapton 16K.

God my wife is going to kill me.

If only I could convey the frustration I went through using wet dry on my shaptons... You've already got the atoma so you don't need any convincing, but in case anyone else reading the thread is curious:

Wet dry sandpaper (even finer grits up to 1000) left very deep scratches in my Shaptons, and the resulting peaks in the stone left gouges in the edge. The first dozen odd times I used my 16k I thought it was defective because I could feel the teeth in the edge with my thumb.

Many people recommend the atoma, and so would I, but I'll say that mine had one corner that was slightly raised and the abrasive sheared off after the first use. The rest seemed flat and just fine so I used it anyway with good results. I've since decided to bite the bullet and just get the DGLP which is unnecessary but ideal for these stones.

Originally Posted by supersco

Ok, you guys convinced me. Just bought an Atoma 1200 to use all the way up to the Shapton 16K.

God my wife is going to kill me.

Good choice. You will need to lap more often than you think & it is more convenient than papers.

Originally Posted by boshane

Many people recommend the atoma, and so would I, but I'll say that mine had one corner that was slightly raised and the abrasive sheared off after the first use. The rest seemed flat and just fine so I used it anyway with good results. I've since decided to bite the bullet and just get the DGLP which is unnecessary but ideal for these stones.

I've got the DGLP for years now. I used to use the DMT 325 for the preliminary lapping and follow up for the finish with the DGLP. Both are good, but the Atoma 1200 is in a class by itself for aggressiveness and speed. I haven't had the 1200 that long, and I use one of the two aforementioned for the preliminary lapping now, finish with the Atoma. So I don't know how the Atoma will hold up, or if the performance will 'fall off' as it wears, but it beats hell out of any other plate I've used. The difference is amazing really. YMMV.

The Shapton Glass stones come pretty flat right out of the box. I have never had any problem just spraying one with water and honing without any preliminary lapping. They are quite hard and most times clean up just by rubbing your fingers on them under running water. I actually look at lapping these stones as a cleaning after the swarf builds up to where it can't be rubbed off. DMT, Atoma, GDLP and Trend plates all do the job on them. I usually stick with the 300-325 grit all the way up on the stones and have not had a problem doing this to date. I'm not a fan of the sandpaper either as the media definitely comes off quicker and easier than the plates mentioned and can definitely get stuck on the stone which to me, is not a good thing. YMMV.......

Have fun

I can say that my Atoma 1200 have lost some of it's cutting power, after an abusive owner (me). Still delivers a fine surface and raise a slury on the hardest naturals, just need more strokes. For the Shapton glass, you would be fine with the Atoma 1200 for laping and everything else (refreshing, raising slury) IMO. I would not use the Atoma 1200 to lap other stones, I have the 400 for that, however like said before the Shapton glass don't need much laping.

Double O

I also agree with Glenn simply because I had it happen once.

Saw a glint just briefly as I was admiring the edge and under the scope you could see scratches that should not have been there. Until I got my DMTs I used other stones to dress the surfaces.

Dave