Thread: Old double sided atoma 400?

Hello from Argentina, my name is Franco. I'm new to razor honing and I'm having a problem identifying a new lapping stone I recently bought. Theoretically it's a new "Atoma 400" , borrowed from a local seller who had bought it on march 2017 on amazon. But it clearly isn't a modern Atoma, or a Atoma at all. It's a double sided, all-steel plate with randomly placed diamond grains. It's dimensions are: 8.5*70*300mm, it came wrapped in a transparent film with a grey cardboard box of the same size.

It would be easy to say: Just return it and get a real modern atoma, but it will cost a lot more because everything is far more expensive here (shipping, conversion rates, taxes, etc..). I'm quite shure the person who sold this item to me is not trying to make easy money selling other cheaper product, but he also does not know very much about the stone. He showed me a pdf with the order from amazon: Atoma #400, 49.41U$S placed on march 2017, sold by KITCHEEK. But I can't find any real info about older atoma models other than this:

Where most plates, including the original Atoma plates, have diamonds fixed to a thick, solid steel plate, the Atoma Economy line have their diamonds fixed to a much thinner steel plate that is then fixed (with double sided tape) to an 10mm thick milled aluminium plate.

Atoma diamond plates. : Tools from Japan, Japanese woodworking tools direct from Japan.


I'd like to know wether it's a real (old) atoma, if it's good or bad or if it's any other cheaper (maybe better?) model. Any help identifying this stone is very welcome. And thank you all for making these great communities around shaving and honing

Originally Posted by usu

Hello from Argentina, my name is Franco. I'm new to razor honing and I'm having a problem identifying a new lapping stone I recently bought. Theoretically it's a new "Atoma 400" , borrowed from a local seller who had bought it on march 2017 on amazon. But it clearly isn't a modern Atoma, or a Atoma at all. It's a double sided, all-steel plate with randomly placed diamond grains. It's dimensions are: 8.5*70*300mm, it came wrapped in a transparent film with a grey cardboard box of the same size.

It would be easy to say: Just return it and get a real modern atoma, but it will cost a lot more because everything is far more expensive here (shipping, conversion rates, taxes, etc..). I'm quite shure the person who sold this item to me is not trying to make easy money selling other cheaper product, but he also does not know very much about the stone. He showed me a pdf with the order from amazon: Atoma #400, 49.41U$S placed on march 2017, sold by KITCHEEK. But I can't find any real info about older atoma models other than this:




Atoma diamond plates. : Tools from Japan, Japanese woodworking tools direct from Japan.


I'd like to know wether it's a real (old) atoma, if it's good or bad or if it's any other cheaper (maybe better?) model. Any help identifying this stone is very welcome. And thank you all for making these great communities around shaving and honing

Hi and welcome! When you get a chance you should definitely go to the members introductions and tell us all a bit about yourself. You'll find a very welcoming community here.

As to your Atoma problem, can you post some picture of what you've ended up with?

Thank you. I'll write my introduction.

Here are the photos. Sorry for the bad quality.

not a razor hone if its a 400 , not sure what it is, but you will need some razor hones or alternative, ie, pastes, wet dry,, not to mention some experience with razors like how to shave with one to stropping. until then you really dont know what shave ready is, so no matter what it is, it will serve a purpose. lapping stones, repair work, but not honing

Thank you. I have a Naniwa 10k and a Shapton 5k, this one is intended for lapping the hones. I'll write about that in my introduction.

My first and only razor is a Ralf Aust, as I understand he only sells shave-ready razors. I can testify it was sharp, because I learned with a razor capable of cutting my eyes just by looking at it, it was passing the hanging hair test very easily. But now I need to continue learning how to get back to that level of sharpness so I need to restore my Naniwa.

Hi,

You can easily lap your 5k and 10k with some 600 grit wet n dry.
To maintain your Ralf Aust try 10 no pressure laps on the 10k, shave, repeat if necessary.

As said before, the use of 600 grit Wet n dry sandpaper, laid on a flat surface ( counter top ). will suffice for lapping your hones. Its what a lot of us use.

Don't forget to chamfer the edges of the hone, once you have it lapped. It doesn't need to be truly flat, just very close. You'll also need to impart a slight rolling X Stroke on your Aust..

Look into our library on the different honing techniques, for the different types of razors made.

And being new to honing, you'll want to tape the spine of the razor..

Really.!!! If your new to honing, learn as much possible, before you ever put your razor to a stone/ hone.

Honing videos by Gssixguns, are some of the best out there. Just stay away from the Dr. Matt, videos, he's a butcher of razors, so to speak.

The size does not match the size of an Atoma 205x75x10mm and Kitcheek does not have a good rating, 52% positive.

Every Atoma I have purchased has come in a sealed plastic case with Atoma branding clearly with it. A 400 plate sells for $60-80. A thin replacement can be purchased for around $45.

You may have a Chinese Diamond plate, the good news is some cheap Chinese diamond plates are very good. You have to be careful with Amazon, they advertise a name brand and on the same page, advertise other product at lower prices that are not the same name brand product. One has to be careful, or better yet buy from known quality sellers.

Atoma sells a Diamond plate attached to a thick plate, or you can buy thin replacement plates that can be attached to an Atoma plate or any other surface. Both are Atoma plates. But I do not think Atoma sells a dual sided plate, though you can stick a replacement plate on the back side and make your own.

A 400 grit diamond plate is an excellent lapping plate and can be use to lap and maintain your stones.

Thank you all. I was considering the sandpaper method but then I saw this atoma at a good price :/. I'll try it, thanks!

I recommend a good quality of Wet/Dry sandpaper. The cheap stuff can in-bed grit in your stone.