Using Shapton DGLP to lap everything...

Hey all,

So I don't have one, but I would really like a Shapton DGLP. Is it a good lapping plate to flatten all types of hones?? I know it works well for the Shapton stones (duh....), but how about other stones like the nortons, or a belgian blue or yellow coticule? I've just been lapping with sandpaper and a piece of ceramic tile. It works, but it's a little messy and awkward... Also, I'm hoping someone who has one can answer this, but how long does the DGLP last? If you only lap a stone a week, let's say, would it last several years?

I just want to know everything about it before I make the DGLP $289 leap! Thanks in advance for the advice!

Dave

I believe the Shapton website recommends that you can lap 1K stones or higher. Nothing of a lower grit. It may have been 500 but I can't recall. Whatever, I don't lap anything lower then 1K myself and so far it is great. If I have to lap anything coarser I use my D8C. It is not as flat as the GDLP but it was a lot cheaper. :) I don't lap barber hones like the Swaty or Pike with the Shapton either. Maybe it would be perfectly alright but I'm not taking the chance. :shrug: Seems ot me it ought to last for years but I can't guarantee it.

Shapton literature says do not lap anything coarser than 500 grit (at least the brochure i have says that) but i have only used to to lap my shaptons... the aforementioned dmt d8c takes care of everything else, barber hones coticule and nortons.

YMMV

I asked about the GDLP vs DMT C, here's the link to the thread, ChrisL has a post there which made the decicion easy for me.

Hope this helps you making your choice.

I was wondering if I could use my Norton flattening stone to lap my coticule. I found that what I thought was flat (wet&dry on glass) wasn't very flat at all for some reason, and the stones were actually raised in the middle.

I am going to look at the surface under the glass, as maybe it was flexing. The glass is from a picture frame. Is there a chance that the glass isn't flat?

You should PM ChrisL on this stuff, he has a lot more experience with lapping on this plate and the problems that might arise from it...
Maybe he will chime in here too

Here I'm chimin';

Bjorn gave a good "tip of the iceberg" link to my experience with the GDLP and lapping natural stones. If you search under my other posts, or in the honing forum, you'll see a lengthy post titled IIRC "My GDLP has issues".

Mine lasted less than six months finally resulting in an approximate loss of <75% of it's diamonds by my estimation after inspection under magnification and a dramatic loss in performance. Mine went back to the Shapton rep and I received a refund.

Sitting here now, I can't recall if I lapped any barber hones with mine. If I did, it would have only been one or two and would have been fine lapping rather than going to town to take chips out or bevel edges, etc.

I did certainly use the GDLP to lap a Tam, 5-6 different coticules/Belgian Blues, 4 Thuringians and a Nakayama Asagi (including the Shapton Ceramic on Glass hones of course, but none coarser than the 500 grit Shapton).

All natural stones had an equivalent grit of 4000 or finer.

Since my personal experience with my GDLP, Howard from the Perfect Edge and I believe Harrelson Stanley the Shapton rep for the U.S. do not advocate using the GDLP for lapping anything but the Shapton stones.

The GDLP is IME the most well designed lapping plate based on its performance. It's like a fine instrument. Either mine was a complete fluke in its performance degradation or you really can classify it as a delicate fine instrument. To me, given it's high price point a delicate lapping plate SHOULD BE an oxymoron.

Recently I have used the DMT Extra Coarse and the coarse plates to not only lap even barber hones, but also to aggressively hone chips, big ones out of wood chisels. Hogging metal. The DMT plates are seemingly unaffected by that abuse! The chisels especially, I was convinced by the sound that I must have been ruining those plates. No problems.

I used to be the poster child for the flatness argument. My opinion has changed and I now realize that flat IS important, but trying to achieve ultimate theoretical flatness to hone on over and above what plates like the DMT can give is not critical.

If you want the GDLP, go for it. I would not discourage anyone from getting one. I was the only one to date that had such a problem. Hopefully it stays that way. I know for certain based on actual before and after pictures that my issue was in no way imagined.

Chris L

I have used my DGLP to lap Shaptons, coticules, a 4/8 Norton and an escher. So far, all is well, but based on Chris' experience I will be keeping an eye on it. I have noticed a couple of areas look slightly burnished, but have not seen any loss of performance. I fairness, my usage is probably fairly light compared to Chris.

I know that a couple of guys, notably Lynn, who hone more or less constantly are using the Shapton lapping plate. Maybe they will add an opinion.

After Chris' experience I only use mine on the Shaptons and my Nortons (1k 4k 8k), I lap stones every 10 razors, so about twice per week, so far so good, but I am keeping a magnified eye on it....:shrug:

I lap coticules, Eschers, Scotish hones and of course my Shaptons with the GDLP. So far so good. Any stone of a grit that is unknown to me or coarser then 1K I will take to the D8C.

I use a Starrett # 385 straight edge to check my stones to make sure they are flat enough to use. As you probably know from posts by Blaireau ( a scientist in the field of polymers) and Howard (The Perfect Edge) the Shaptons are polymer based and will change over a relatively short period of time even if you don't use them.

PITA but that is the nature of the beast. Gotta take the bad with the good. That is why I bought the straight edge. Howard suggested that for best performance they be lapped before each use. I check them with the straight edge and decide whether they need it or not and go from there.

I once spoke to Harrelson of Shapton on the phone asking about the GDLP and told him that I was using the D8C. He replied that they are not flat. This gave me a bad impression of Harrelson as I attributed it to sour grapes for a competitor. Turned out I was mistaken.

Then I got the straight edge and I found that my D8C and D8E were not flat. I called DMT and they said to send them back for evaluation. I sent the pair back and they tested them. They agreed that the D8C wasn't up to their specifications and replaced it.

The not flat D8E was they said within tolerance and they sent it back to me along with the new C. Well the new D8C isn't flat either so Harrelson was correct in his statement. It is I am sure within their tolerance and I guess it is okay but the GDLP is absolutely flat.....at least mine is. :shrug:

I use the DGLP on the Shapton Glass hones EVERYTIME. It isn't that much trouble, the hones seem to cut better and if thats what is recommended-so be it.

I have lapped my Escher's with the DGLP and it is MUCH easier than using sandpaper on a granite tile.:shrug:

Thanks for all the input everyone :D. I think if I am to get a GDLP I would only use it to lap Shapton stones...just to be safe. I'm sure it would work well on other stones, but with a piece of equipment that expensive, I'm not sure if it's worth the risk for me!

Dave