Thread: Lapping Problem with Norton

I ran in to a bit of a problem when trying to flatten my norton 4/8. I purchased a 220 grit wet/dry (different brand than I usually go with). After lapping the hone on both sides I noticed the surface felt a lot smoother. I've completed this process several times with success, but this time the stones feels different, and when i submerged it in water it absorbs very little water. So I put it to the test with a cheaper restoration razor, and teh stone didn't even gererate a slurry on the 4k grit side. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to fix this...would the best bet be to purchase a flattening stone, or is there a simple fix? Thanks in advance.

JR

220 grit seems pretty low. 800-1500 seems to be the preferred range.

If you're not absorbing water I wonder if you've clogged the pores with grit.

Although a lapping stone would clear the surface of debris, I'm not sure it would leave a good texture to the surface for honing razors.

X

Can't you try a kitchen knife or a tool on the stone to see if you can remove the topmost layer and get a bit of a slurry started?

Originally Posted by xman

220 grit seems pretty low. 800-1500 seems to be the preferred range.

If you're not absorbing water I wonder if you've clogged the pores with grit.

Although a lapping stone would clear the surface of debris, I'm not sure it would leave a good texture to the surface for honing razors.

X

X - Do you think relapping with a grit in the 800-1500 range would resurface the stone? What grit on that range do you recommend for this process? Thx

Originally Posted by murph

Can't you try a kitchen knife or a tool on the stone to see if you can remove the topmost layer and get a bit of a slurry started?

I can give this a try, but am worried about ending up with an uneven stone again. If a higher grit paper fails, I may give this a try. Thanks Murph

I've been wondering that myself recently.

When I tried 800 it seemed to work fine, but it was poor quality paper and left grit embedded in my stone. 1000 grit seemed to work well, left a very smooth finish and allowed me to use a more comfortable amount of pressure during honing. I've recently used 1500 and it's left pretty much the same surface as the 1000. If you've got particles trapped in there though, you'd probably do better off with a proper lapping plate or something like that.

Here's a more detailed look at my experience.

X

It sounds like you managed to glaze your stone :-( In the directions Norton provided with mine they recommended either their lapping stone or 600 grit wet/dry sandpaper.

I use 1000 grit wet/dry 3M sandpaper and use it wet. The I place the hone under running water and rub it with a green nylon scrubbing pad to remove any embedded grit. This has always worked for me.

I've gone to the coarse DMT stone as a flattener. No more problems. Maybe your loading up the stone with the papper and grit. A knife may not be enough to cut through it.

Glazed stones just need to be scrubbed with the DMT and all is well

Thanks everyone for your help. I picked up a norton flattening stone and was able to remove the glazing. Not sure what happened, but I think teh different sandpaper I used just clogged the 4/8 up.