Thread: How do you lap your stones?

I've read articles and watched videos on all kinds of lapping methods. Lapping stones, diamond hones and flat tiles with wet/dry sandpaper are just a few of the examples. I'm curious what methods people are using and why. I know what has worked for me but am wondering if I can up my game.

Pete <:'}

Ive used dmts, atomas and wet/dry. Recently got some sic powder and use that on a lapping plate. Im tired of spending money on another diamond plate. My atoma 140 used carefully is toast after one year. I mean it still works, but its toast compared to what it was. Spend 10 or 15 bucks on silicon carbide powder and a $5 granite tile from home depot and your good. You may want to use some wet dry to smooth them out depending on what your stone is. 140 grit is kinda of rough. You can get it in grit up to 1200 i think. But my 140 gets them flat fast and thats what I want.

I do a fair amount of lapping. I lap coming off of a wet saw using a DMT lapping plate. I put a 1/2" thick rubber mat in the bottom of a sink or tub and put the lapping plate on top of that. Enough water to cover an inch over the top of the plate and lap away. I likely do more lapping than the average person due to the rockhound habit I have developed. It works well, however I have a plan to work on a larger motorized lapping system and it will likely utilize silicon carbide grit and a hard plate, most likely AR plate. The question that comes to mind is how much lapping does the average person do. Not likely enough to wear out a good lapping plate if used under water or under running water. They are not that much money and can be obtained from a lot of places, many of the wet shaving shops have them as well as and so does Lee Valley.

Yes I agree but even with light use the plates ''grit'' drops off drastically. With sic powder, its constantly refeshed. Faster cheaper and better imo. I wish someone told me this years ago. And a 12 x12 tile is a big surface so it goes fast. Use what you need and done.

Yes SiC loose grit is the way to go. I use it for all but the softest stones. Using it for the brunt of flattening work saves wear and tear on the diamond plates - which I still use on some stones such as Shaptons, and also for raising slurry on some natural finishers.

I have been using the three stone method if they are reasonably flat to start with, seems to work well on synthetics, and some naturals.

I use the Diamond plate under water as shown by Lynn Abrams. It seems to work great. I know there are other methods out there but that seems to work for me.

I use a Norton lapping stone that I keep flat with a DMT D6C, the DMT is a little small and it gets sticky unless the stones are being lapped under running water. A DMT D8C is more expensive than the two combined, but it works great also.

Wet and dry paper on my kitchen work top for me. Its cheap and effective for the few synthetics I own.
Job done

Forgive me if im wrong but ive always thought that if you use a low grit lapping stone on a finishing hone you would leave scratch marks on it which would reduce the effectiveness of it.