Thread: Lapping with wet sandpaper

Ok, first time using wet sandpaper when lapping my hones.I used 400, 800 and 1200.That is after lapping with my Dmt 325.I used it on my norton 4000/8000,my chinese somethingsomething k and my shapton 16k.
WOW! Not a single scratch in any of my hones, I can actually feel the difference with my hand.I also honed a dull razor from the 4000 to the 16k.Shaveready in no time.Much more consistensy and smoother strokes.I would say that this is pretty essential to get a super edge, at least for me.

I just lap or bring up slurry with my DiaSharp (not the honey comb surface) 325 Coarse and nothing else. Seems fine to me. Why did you start with the sand paper. Should I?

You should absolutly.Randi told me that you should finish lapping a hone with no less than 1000 grit.As I said I tried it out,and I can tell you there is a significant differense.The razor glides over the hones in a much smoother way,making it a lot easier to do consistent strokes.
To answer your first question, I noticed some scratchmarks in my chinese after lapping,and as I described in a earlier thread.It felt like the razor was digging in to the hone surface.That is not an issue any more.What I did was just to wrap some wet sandpaper around my DMT, that way you have a totally flat surface.
Good luck.

so you got that Chinese to work? right on! good job as i know mine is essential for me.

i was too cheap to buy the norton lapping stone and i think it was a good thing. i don't really hone enough to say that using paper will be a huge cost for me and i have read some pretty crappy experiences about using the Norton. i have also had some people talk about how they make great use of it. maybe each stone can be different. for the now the paper works great for me.

Nice post Kristoffer. I received the same advice from "Randy" (sp???) a week or so ago about a 12k Chinese stone. He also said that I could use dry sandpaper but that he preferred wet. Because I do not have a DMT-8 he told me to use coarse sandpaper for lapping. He mentioned that I should gauge the stone with a 400 grit and sand away with 80 or 120 until flat after making markings on the stone with a pencil. Then to finish the stone I should do 2 passes on 120|220|320|500|800|1000. I did get my Chinese 12k from christmas but I have been to lazy to work on it yet :-( Randy if you read this, please correct me if I misquoted you here ;-).

Al raz.

Are you saying you wrapped paper around the plate and used it like a sanding block. Were you dry lapping previously?

First i lapped my hones with the DMT.Then I wrapped paper around the dmt ,in finer and finer grits.It worked great!

I think I got a mutant C12. I lapped mine with my DMT D8C, it took roughly 5 mins, checked with a straight edge, came out great. I have plenty of wet/dry paper, but I haven't had to use it. The c12k does work better with a slurry though.

Originally Posted by Alraz

Nice post Kristoffer. I received the same advice from "Randy" (sp???) a week or so ago about a 12k Chinese stone. He also said that I could use dry sandpaper but that he preferred wet. Because I do not have a DMT-8 he told me to use coarse sandpaper for lapping. He mentioned that I should gauge the stone with a 400 grit and sand away with 80 or 120 until flat after making markings on the stone with a pencil. Then to finish the stone I should do 2 passes on 120|220|320|500|800|1000. I did get my Chinese 12k from christmas but I have been to lazy to work on it yet :-( Randy if you read this, please correct me if I misquoted you here ;-).

Al raz.

Did I say 2 passes on each grit? Ooops! It should be 10-20 laps or whatever it takes to remove the scratch marks from the previous grit.
Try not to use the 80 grit unless absolutely necessary. It might leave deep scratch lines that will be difficult to remove. Also, do not use maximum pressure.. to much pressure increases the depth of the scratch lines. I know this sounds vague but the general rule I follow is to use the least aggressive method possible. There are less negative consequences that way.

Hope this helps,