Thread: Time to lre-lap?

Hi,
For BBW and Coticule, after the initial lapping, how often do they need to be re-lapped? How can you tell it's time (aside from actually drawing a grid on them and lapping)?

Thanks,
Chief

Sort of depends on how much honing you do. I used to see guys say every 4 or 5 razors. I have a straight edge that I check with. The coticules IME will go awhile but it doesn't hurt to draw a grid and see how quick it comes off. After awhile you'll get a sense of when it is time to lap by intuition.

I don't think coticules need to be lapped as often as waterstones. As they are being used, they are constantly releasing material and therefore self-refreshing their surfaces. Natural stones don't seem to need to be as flat in order to function properly. I guess in general I only lap naturals when I realize that it's been a while and that maybe I should. After initial lapping to get a flat surface, I haven't really seen an improvement after subsequent lappings of naturals.

Unless you are using them to set bevels, you can go a long time between lappings on most naturals. Some steels tend to swarf a little more than others and could clog the stone if you don't keep it floating. If you clog your stone, lapping can get your abrasive surface back in shape.