Thread: Now I should be set.

After some hesitation I have finally ordered my own set of hones: A Norton 4/8 and a chinese 12k. In addition to those I have ordered some chrome paste and have some balsa at home I plan to turn into a strop.

I have a question: When lapping the chinese, will a normal pencil even be visible on the dark surface?

Now I am looking forward to learning how to take care of my own razors.

yes a normal pencil will show up well on it they are hard so it will take a little while to get it lapped, take your time with it and dont forget to bevel the edges too

The color of the lapped region will be different, so you will barely need a pencil, but yes it will be visible.

A DMT D8C continuous diamond plate would come in mighty handy to lap those. Especially the Chinese. On really tough stones I sometimes lap awhile, take a break and go do something else and then come back to it.

"Now I should be set"

???

Oh, my friend this is just the beginning....just the beginning!

After the Chinese comes thoughts of Spydercos....Shaptons..... exotic Japanese hones you can't even pronounce.....

And that edge will always need "just a touch more on the hone..."


But boy is it fun! Enjoy your honing, it is really a large part of the fun for me.

Use some sandpaper after lapping the chinese, I use 400, 800 and 1200, it really helps!

Now both my hones should be on their way.
I think the only thing needed on my razors right now is a touch-up. I have used them since late november, so they could probably need it. Do any of you guys have any advice on how to just touch u a razor?

I got very luck when I got my 12k, It required very minimal lapping. The pencil marks showed up fine. I lapped mine with the D8C in the sink under running water. The D8C clogs up pretty easy, so the running water will help that process. Now, I'm in the process of making some 12k Slurry stones. They're a great but slow finisher, 100 passes easy....

I went to Home Depot today and got some stuff for the lapping. A polished stone tile and some sandpaper. I already had some Norton 400 wet paper at home that I used to sand a model airplane, so I figured the only paper I would need was the 1000 grit. But they didn't have anything over 600 so I just bought that. Will 600 be ok for the lapping if I finish off really light or do I need some higher grit?

Yeah, right. I have the same stuff you have, plus a few DMT Dia Sharps from before my straight razor days, and all I can think of now is Shapton. I never thought it would get to this point.