Quote Originally Posted by Howard View Post
The reason Shaptons are so exceptional is the diamond composite and that they're so flat to begin with and that's what you're really paying for with that stone. I have used a GDLP on Shaptons as that's part of the Shapton system. When you have something that flat, a rock solid holder is necessary to keep it flat and the lapping stone should be consistent with the technology. The Shaptons start out two orders of magnitude flatter than a DMT which is +-.001" across the surface. The Shapton is .001mm which is a whole heck of a lot flatter. I've been playing with Shaptons (with Harrelson Stanley) lately as I'm going to be carrying them in a couple of weeks.
Ah ha! So Howard's been bit by the Shapton bug as well. As Christian (Kaptain Zero) says...resistance to Shaptons IS futile!

Quote Originally Posted by bevansmw View Post
Really.. hmm when I was lapping them I noticed that I could look at the shapton from the side and see a low spot near the middle where it curved downward.
What Howard means is the Shapton GDLP lapping plate is .001mm flat across its surface. The Shapton ceramic on glass stones are not pre-lapped and vary in factory flatness or lack thereof. Don't worry about how long it took you. You're there and can enjoy the stones. It depends on how much pressure you use when lapping. On a few of my Shapton ceramics I laid them on my GDLP and literally just used the weight of the stone to lap. It took as long or longer than it did for you.

Now when I touch up (which I do for each stone before each lapping session, I just rub the stone and GDLP together lightly under running water for 10-20 circles to remove the steel swarf. It only takes less than 30 seconds.

Enjoy those Shaptons!

Chris L