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right now I am soaking my norton 4k/8k stone for about 15 minutes to lap it with my D8C. Since the Naniwa is said to just needs to be wet when shaving do I need to let it soak as well? I am going to flatten them under a running sink to keep the D8C fine but not sure if the Naniwa 12k sharpening stone should be soaked or not. thanks for help
For your initial lapping of a Naniwa 12K SS, you might want to soak it for 5 minutes or so, but it won't absorb much water. None of the superstones need much water, but the 12K requires even less than the others.
After the initial lapping, just rinse off the stone or spray it a couple of times. Soaking is not necessary, but soaking it for a few minutes shouldn't hurt.
I have lapped my 12K Naniwa under running water with no pre soak. For honing, all I do is spray some water on them and hone adding sprayed water as needed, no pre soaking.
Bob
It's also worth noting the 4K side of the Norton 4/8 is the one that needs a drink. The 8K can be used as a splash & go hone. Handy piece of information if you're just doing a quick 8/12K touch up and don't think you'll need the 4K.
Watch GSsixgun's Youtube videos, just like the Prego commercials, everything you need is in there.
There is zero need to soak a Naniwa before lapping, and it only needs to be lapped once, After that, a few figure 8s to freshen the surface at the beginning of a honing session is all you need and that applies to most hones. Two exceptions I can think of is as follows:
My Zulu is so hard, it's fine without freshening after the initial lapping, though I would probably do that if it starts to feel like it needs it.
Coticules are another hone I would tend to stay away from diamond plates with, as much as possible. The diamonds are so hard and sharp that they can fracture the garnets, making a Coti peform substandard until the surface has shed the fractured garnets. I will use a DMT or some such to flatten a coti, but just another piece of coti for cleaning and creating slurry after that.
Regards
Christian
Just lap under running faucet once flat all you should need to use it is a spray bottle of h2O and give it a spritz.