Thread: Can I lap a Norton 4K-8K with regular Norton 3X sandpaper?

I am looking to lap my Norton 4K-8K waterstone. All I have is some 400 grit "Norton 3X" sandpaper, that does not say that it is "wet or dry" sandpaper. Will this be appropriate to lap with, or will it leave grit embedded in my stone since it is not rated for use in water? Or is it not usable for some other reason?

Thanks

Yikes, I posted this in the wrong "honing" section. Sorry

Regular sandpaper would degrade quickly with water. The grit would release from the paper and the paper itself is not designed for use with water. Also, you very well could have issues with embedded grit in your Norton stone.

Chris L

The instructions that came with my Norton 4/8k said to use 600 grit wet/dry paper . The reason for the wet/dry is because you need to keep water on the paper to keep it from clogging up with grit from the hone . You should also move the hone in a figure "8" motion on the paper so the hone doesn't wear unevenly when you are lapping it .

Dustin,

As the others have mentioned, you need to use a "wet or dry" paper with plenty of water on a very flat hard surface. A piece of plate glass is great and a piece of polished stone tile should also work well, but it must be flat.

The directions I got with my Norton were to use a 320 grit first, then finish with 600. Pencil a grid on the hone in both the long and short dimensions and work the hone on the coarser lapping medium until that grid is worn away, then polish it on the finer medium. Use lots of water, and the figure 8 motion, and swap ends frequently to balance the forces from your grip which will cause uneven wear on the hone.

The coarser lapping medium does all the work with the finer medium smoothing things out to give your blade greater contact with the hone. The grit rating of the hone does not change with different grit lapping media - it's just that the grooves in the hone left by coarser laps don't touch the blade. And air makes for a real slow hone.

good luck,

Originally Posted by Bruce

And air makes for a real slow hone.

Priceless!

Originally Posted by Bruce

The directions I got with my Norton were to use a 320 grit first, then finish with 600.

The coarser lapping medium does all the work with the finer medium smoothing things out to give your blade greater contact with the hone. The grit rating of the hone does not change with different grit lapping media - it's just that the grooves in the hone left by coarser laps don't touch the blade.

Bruce, Thanks for the information, it will help a lot. I have a few questions. It seems most people use the 325 grit diamond plate, the DMT D8C to lap their hones. Wont they run into the same "problem" where they have the 325 grit sized grooves left in their hones? It seems most people use their hones immediately after lapping with the 325 grit plate. Is using the 600 grit paper more of a luxury, as you said, to hone faster, and just save time? Can you get the same honing results eventually if you used the norton when it was only lapped with the 320 grit sandpaper (maybe just taking longer to achieve these results)?

Dustin