Thread: Lapping Norton 4000/8000 - Frequency?

For me sandpaper lapping was just too much trouble. I just didn't fit with the rest of my sharpening. It was too much a separate operation. A diamond plate has no set up or different requirements from my simple sharpening station.
Previously I would put off lapping for too long; leaving a lot of material to be removed. I found this to be no good for sandpaper, and sandpaper no good for this.
With a plate waiting right beside you it is no bother to give the stone a few light strokes. There is no set-up. nothing to change, no need to cross the room, etc. That is just my laziness, but I am sure that over the last few years I have saved the cost of several books of sandpaper, and it is still cutting. More frequent lapping, i believe, causes less surface wear than restoration type work required when things are obviously out of true

For me, I don't have a bunch of straights that need honing (not at the moment at least, it may very well expand into a collecting thing), so I'm not going to be using the hone everyday. Using anything other than sandpaper, seemed to be money that could be spend well elsewhere (for me anyway). I could easily just send my straight (about to become two when it arrives in the mail) out to honed when it needs be, but I really want to learn everything, to be independent.
But if I was using a hone a lot, I'd most likely step up from sandpaper rather quickly.

Originally Posted by Lynn

I lap all my stones after every session with them.

It keeps them clean and flat for the next session.

Lynn

Same here. Doing it after every session means it takes onyl half a minute. Waiting until it is noticably dished means you have to spend much more time. And the other benefit is that you always have a clean and consistent surface to work on.