Thread: Razor eating into hone

Originally Posted by loueedacat

probably. It might just be some random crap stone mixed in. Go outside and grab a rock and try to hone on it. see if the razor digs in.

Well thanks alot! I just did what you told me to and completly ruined my friodur!

he he

You lapped the chinese 12K on the DMT right? Some people selling them say they don't have to be lapped, but that is not my experience. I have lapped mine on successively finer grades of wet and dry until the surface is quite smooth, if not polished. I have tried three now, one was marbled with dark lines, one uniform and one had a few light lighter quartz-looking lines in it (don't know the composition, but thats how it looked). All three were fine in use - after lapping. I reckon the DMT is too rough - I have tried using it and noticed lots of striations and scratch marks, so proceeded with 400, 600 and 1200 w&d paper.

What do you use to raise a slurry? Any natural or synthetic slurry stone with less than the grit size of the chinese stone won't help - but I'd guess you use your DMT, which doesn't leave particles so should be fine, apart from scratching the surface of the stone.

Like loueedacat says, you may have got a lemon. I've read of soft ones. They are natural stones after all - the sediment that was laid down must peter-out somewhere, who decides where the end of a particular vein is?

Regards,
Neil

I bought a small piece of the 12k from ChrisL to use as a slurry stone, and yes there is a lot of scratch marks in the surface from the dmt.hmmm..that could be a part of the problem.Thanks

The problem is that you lapped it with the DMT and nothing finer after that. Doing so will result in a "grabby" surface texture. No matter what I use to flatten a hone I then always use a finer set of grits after that and finish with a 1000 grit.

The diamond hones are very effective but leave deep scratches. After using the DMT 325 then use a 320 grit sandpaper, then a 600 grit and finish with 1000 grit.

Hope this helps,

I agree with Randy & Neil that the rough surface is the culprit. I lapped my Chinese 12K up to 2K on wet/dry sandpaper. The surface is very smooth, and produces great results on my razors.

Kris, what was the part where you said "always keep it submerged"

I would look for sources of contamination not only from the stone but from outside, previous coarser abrasives and how they got on the stone. If this were a synthetic leaving nicks or scratches you could bet it came from outside even finished on 120dmt.

I'm not clear whether you are getting that or just a general sense of dulling. (I wish the local woodcraft carried these I could dash over now for a quick fix)

Nortons I understand are a little softer. The 12k is supposed to be on the hard side. It often takes some practice to really get used to the difference.

You could also check the other sides to see if you can get away from the black streaking you described.

I allways keep my hones submerged in water, was what I ment.I realise that I need some finer sandpaper...should have figured that out, thanks. I always rinse my hones before use, then i keep it my hand for the entire honing process(I seem to get the most consistensy in my strokes then).So I have basically ruled out the contamination from the outside.Great idea to try the other side of the stone, I will try that.Tough I wonder how much I will use it after I get my shapton...
Could it work to first lap the stones with a dmt325, and then buy a dmt1200 and use as a bevel setter/lapping finish stone?

Definately polish it up to at least 1000 wet dry paper. I have also used lather on mine with very good results. Makes for a nice gliding stroke plus you can see that you've hit the entire blade or not.

I understand, but would it be possible to skip the paper and only use dmts from a low grit to a higher with good result?
thanks.

The DMT 1200 would leave a better finish on the hone than the 325. But using a finer grit after that would be even better.

I do take issue, as always, with using a 1200 diamond grit to set a bevel. I feel it is much to coarse and aggressive to properly set a bevel. IMHO a 4000 grit should be used to finish establishing a straight razor bevel.

Just my two cents,