Thread: is my honing stone ruined?

I will post pictures later im at work

so i have a generic japanese taidea 1k/8k whetstone

i recently bought a norton lapping stone and lapped it with water running while lapping. the center of the stone looks pitted and is not smooth.
should i keep lapping it? or what is wrong, i fear if i try to sharpen with it it will ruin my blades

Try lapping it on some 320 grit Wet & Dry. The lapping stones are a pain in the butt and do not work very well.

From what I have read on Taidea they are very soft and may not work well with razors.

You should be able to lap it with ‘wet & dry or better yet a diamond plate. You can buy good diamond plates inexpensively, 20-50 dollars.

hmm ok so you think the norton flattening stone is too abrasive?

Theres lots of problems with the Norton Flattening stones. They often do not come flat themselves just to start. Of course if your Tadiea is a softer stone then the norton stone may be ripping chunks out of it and that could be what is causing the pits. Or the stone could have been poorly made and has air pockets when the matrix settled out and hardened and as you are lapping them you are uncovering them.

I don’t know that they are too abrasive, the do make a mess and just don’t perform as well as W&D and Diamond plates.

Try the Wet & Dry.

Try some w and d as suggested. The taidea ate really soft so will scratch up pretty easily. I found my Naniwa lapping plate wasn't beveled on the bottom andvthe corners on the segments and edges were really making a mess of the stone. If you really want a good lapping solution get a diamond plate

Funny story my Taidea, a 3/8k which I never use anymore is hard as nails. I keep it lapped on my Dia-Flat no problem. I'm with eddy diamond plate or flatten the flattening stone out first on sandpaper.

Out of curiosity what did you get the 1/8k combo for? Meaning what made you get that over the 3/8k?

I got the 1k 8k cause I felt it would be better to set a bevel.
I actually figured it out. The stone is too soft. I have to use virtually only a slight amount of water while flattening. No running water at all. It has to be pretty dry or the flattening stone tears chunks out of it.

Btw even going from 1k to 8k I don't seem to have much problems

That's not normal dude, I lap my under water sometimes and sometimes under a running tap. Have you ever thought your flattening stone was too rough or out of flat if it's tearing chunks out.

Try lapping your Taidea with sandpaper