Thread: Hone Flattening/Preparation

I've been reading several of the threads on hones and honing, and all threads talk about how to flattening you hone before using it is essential. However, none of the posts that i've read describe how to actually flatten the stone.

Can someone please tell me how to flatten a stone?

oh, and Is there anything needed to be done to the stone after flattening, ie polishing of a finer surface and such?


Thanks For Your Help

Originally Posted by VasterBlue

I've been reading several of the threads on hones and honing, and all threads talk about how to flattening you hone before using it is essential. However, none of the posts that i've read describe how to actually flatten the stone.

Can someone please tell me how to flatten a stone?

oh, and Is there anything needed to be done to the stone after flattening, ie polishing of a finer surface and such?


Thanks For Your Help

There are a bunch of good resources in the FAQ stickies at the top of the forum.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/showt...hlight=lapping

Many people lap the surface up through 1000 grit or so, but it isnt absolutely necessary, just makes things a little smoother (cue drummer).

Here is a link to a Shapton technique using their lapping plate and diamond lapping powder. You can substitute a piece of glass for the plate and use diamond paste or powder or wet/dry sandpaper on the glass.
http://shaptonstones.com/index.php?m...12d53fe6565168

Should you lap with a sand paper of equal grit to the stone? or is there no particular grit limit per se. I'm worried that too coarse or too fine a grit will alter the of the hone

I use a DMT8C (325 grit) to lap all my stones, and it works wonders.
Don't worry about the grit size too much. The 'coarse' scratches don't matter, because the material still scratches your razor with a 1000 / 4000 / 8000 / ... grit so it doesn't really matter imo.

I seem to remember that Lynn uses his stones directly from the shapton lapping plate.

I just flattened a Norton 4K/8K stone as my first attempt. I started with 1K wet sandpaper. I put marks on the stone and away I went. It went slow. I then tried 400 grit paper. Still slow but my stone was getting flat. I read the Norton instructions and they said use 220 grit. I switched to 220 grit and the stone melted away to flitter flat in no time at all. 220 grit was the ticket.

Agreed, I have used finishing stones straight off of the D8C with only a marginal difference in feel as compared to when I go to higher grits.

Thanks all! I think I'll use 220 grit or something similar for my norton 4k/8k combo(for economy's sake), but im also looking into a chinese 12k, will this hone require special attention? I've heard that it rather delicate. Sorry for asking all these questions guys, I really appreciate your help.

The chinese 12k isn't very delicate, it's one of the harder stones on the market and is a big son of a ...

For the price, you really can't go wrong, but they require a different touch than the norton does, not to mention many more strokes because they cut so slow.

I really advise you to buy the DMT8C.
It only costs 55$, and you can use it to lap any stone out there.
Sandpaper would work if you occasionally hone a razor. But as soon as you start buying and using multiple stones, then the time you gain by using something better is really worth the money.

The norton lapping stone is only good for nortons. It'll quickly wear out if you use it on other stones.