Thread: lapping

i bought a hand lapper like the one lynn features in his video. my norton 4k had turned from white to near grey, and was beginning to feel very smooth (particulate matter from the edge, i presume).

the hand lapping tool definitely made it white again, although i am a little concerned that the surface is not as flawlessly flat as before, there are some micro-striations visible from the stroke with the lapper. i tried a little sandpaper to smooth it out a bit...better, but not "like new".

the surface of the 8k has retained its relative smoothness after lapping. the 4k feels grittier...it had felt like the 8k before. i wonder if this is why i felt my honing was getting me nowhere.

i am hoping the presence of a layer of water on the 4k will ameliorate any tiny flaws introduced by this lapping. thoughts?

any other general comments on lapping that might help me?

What do you mean by "hand lapper"? Did you get the Norton Flattening stone or something else? I can't say that I have ever experienced what you described. Make sure that both your Norton 4K/8K and the Norton Flattening stone (if this is what you have) have been soaking in water for at least 5 minutes before you try to flatten/clean it. If you did soak the stone before you tried to lap it, then that is probably your problem. Otherwise

If you followed the directions (soak both lapper and stone) than the lines you see in the 4k side are just from the coarse texture from the flattener (lapper). Due to the softness of the 4k stone it tends to scratch easaly. The 8k will also show these scratches but to a lesser degree.

I used the norton flatener for a while and it does a fine job depending on your skill. However the flattener also errodes at the same time, this gets into a question of "How flat is flat?". I ended up getting the DMT D8XX and D8C for my kitchen knife rutine and as flateners. I've never gone back to the norton flattener again, it sits on the shelf and crys alot from not being used

there is a distinct possibility the tool i used only looks like the norton lapping stone. it came from a hardware store.

doh!

good thing i get paid every two weeks!

You can also use 1000 grit wet sandpaper on a flat surface like a tile to lap your Norton.