Thread: Breaking in a DMT.

I have a similar issue. Not having slurry stones, I use my DMT for the purpose of raising a slurry, and on the coticule it yields a greyish color slurry instead of that yellowish milky color. I am assuming that the stone being lapped cuts away some of the above mentioned nickel, and hence the color (probably along with particle contamination.)

Originally Posted by Rajagra

I got my DMT D8E today. Started by rubbing a steel tube against it for a while to break it in a bit, but didn't do it too much. Used it to lap my Norton flattening stone on both sides, then another cheap hone (I believe it is a 400 grit, yet it is sold for razor sharpening lol.)

Figuring I had broken it in enough I started lapping my Norton 4/8K. I noticed a dark patch appearing in the middle of the Norton. I thought it may be graphite from the pencil marks collecting, so continued. Got both sides so smooth it was hard to stop it from aquaplaning while lapping, but the dark patches remained. On the yellow side a scrubbing brush removed most of it, but on the white (4K) side I couldn't get it all out.

SO, the questions are, what is causing this mark, and is it a problem? Could it be nickel coming off the DMT surface? Should I try to remove it and how? I can't do it by lapping because that's what's causing the problem! Unless I use the Norton flattening stone again, which would be kinda dumb as the DMT is undoubtedly flatter.

Any ideas?

Are you using a suffitient amount of water while lapping? I lap my hones under running water...

swarf left in the little swarf collecting pits on the DMT coming off?

Originally Posted by Quick

swarf left in the little swarf collecting pits on the DMT coming off?

Nope, it's the continuous type. I cleaned it with the scrubbing brush too.
I've honed up a couple of Double Arrows, I'll see how they go.