Quote Originally Posted by Goggles View Post
Speaking of that, is there sort of a red-herring layer, or a "grey zone" in between a new Norton out of the box and a completely lapped one?

I spent a few hours lapping mine flat and the surfaces feel just the way that everyone describes how they should feel (smooth on 4k, silky smooth on 8k), but I see everyone talking about having to lop off as much as an 8th of an inch, and I took off less than a 64th from each side. Never noticed any grittiness below the original surface.

Did I just get lucky?

There are differences, in the Nortons when it comes to lapping them in. I would like to say that it coincides with where they are made, (USA, Italy, Mexico) but I can't say that for sure, it is just my thoughts about it...But yes some take much longer, some are easy as can be...