To The Hones! Rapunzel!

OK, sorry about dating myself with that old Airplane! line. I'm now looking at a brand new unused Norton 4/8K, a new Naniwa 12k, a new Norton Flattening stone (all from SRD), an SRD Modular paddle strop, some diamond & crox paste, and a boatload of enthusiasm and inexperience.

It's time to go back to the Wiki and Lynn's DVD and start viewing the lapping material again. Anyone have any advice/warning/ridicule about using the Norton Flattening stone for lapping my new hones? I'd rather wait and get a DMT 325 if the Norton won't do a good job.

Thanks for the help!

I use the DMT 325 for all my lapping without issues.

Just make sure yours is truly flat. I assumed mine was (did not get mine from SRD, I got mine from another SRD site... Super-Retarded-Dumbasses!) but found out the hard way it wasn't.

Hope you've been exposed to chamfering.

The DMT 325 is much more versatile.

Use it to sharpen knives, flatten hones, etc...

Get the DMT, skip the Norton.

I use the DMT, no problem.

Skip the Norton flattening stone, it becomes unflat and then needs to be lapped itself.. Get either a DMT 325 or use sandpaper on a flat surface ( just don't use to much pressure when using sandpaper). I use both the DMT, for heavy work, and the sandpaper, for lite refreshing of the hones surface.

If you are going to hone razors, then apart from the actual hone you use, a DMT325 is the best investment you can make.
It is relatively cheap, lasts a lifetime, and is very versatile. It is both a coarse hone and a lapping plate.

The Norton flattening plate does not play well with the Naniwa 12K. DMT 325 works well as advised. It does want to stick to the higher grit stones though, so I lap under running water.