Lapping an MST

So I picked up an MST Thrunigen (spellcheck anyone) from Wojtec on ebay. It came withouth the shrinkwrapped picture of the guy with the razor, and sadly, without the rubbing/flattening stone. While I'm aware that the rubbing stone isn't really for lapping, but rather for producing a slurry, I would have liked one... Slurry seems good....

Anyways, I couldn't wait to put it to work so I tried honing up a Wapiencia I picked up a while back. Got it close enough to shave with, but the shave left a little to be desired.

My question at long last is, should I... and can I ... lap this stone up with sandpaper, or would I be better off contacting Josh Earl about his hone lapping service? I seem to remember that coticules, and perhaps likewise these distant garnet cutting cousins, are difficult to lap with sandpaper.

Thanks,
Lando

Why would you want to lap it? For raising a slurry or to smoothen the surface?

Coticules are actually fairly easy to lap, in my experience. If the hone is very far from flat, it might still take you a bit.

I'd be glad to help out, but you might give it a shot yourself first. :)

Josh

Lando,
As I recall the stones he was selling, a 2x8 and a 3x10 are not Thuringens. MST sells them as Original waterstones and they are from Hunsrueck, not Thuringen.


Tony

I see, sorry about the nomenclature. These Hunsrueck's should have similar polishing properties though, am I right? I've had some decent success so far in my quest for shaving sharp. This stone definitely seems more effective than my Polish Arkansas, as far as speed is concerned. I haven't really had much time to play with it, but it seems reasonably flat.

And yes, I was more concerned with flattening this particular hone, rather than raising a slurry. The few razors I've put to this hone haven't really raised any considerable slurry.

Thanks for the flattening offer Josh. I will play with it some more this Monday. Finally got a day off of work AND school. One in a million those double off days. If I need to get her flat and can't, I will be sending you a PM Sir Josh of Earl.

I don't know much about your hone, but my coticule doesn't raise a slurry just from honing. I suppose if I did back and forth strokes with heavy pressure it might, but not from a normal honing stroke.

My guess is that your stone is a little on the harder side and needs a separate stone to get the slurry going. :shrug:

That said, I don't use a slurry on my coticule, although a lot of guys do. I prefer the edge I get from the coticule with plain water on it.

I'll bet some sandpaper will flatten that sucker right out, though. :)

Josh

Sandpaper should do the job of flattening.
I would consider the rubbing stone as necessary, though.
First I hone my straights with slurry on this stone and afterwards rinse it of and only use it with water.