Hi all,

Until recently I was using the Shapton high carbon glass stones up the the 8k (max for the HC) and CrOx for shaving, and was generally happy with the results. Always wanting more, I went and purchased a 16k glass from the 'bay that came pre-lapped. I used it on two razors, and the results were exceptional. 8 passes on each side of the razor before CrOx gave me the best shave I've had.

However, since attempting to lap the stone I've had nothing but trouble. Initially I used 600grit Norton sandpaper on a granite slab. The stone was still pretty flat, but I used light pressure until all the pencil marks were gone. I tried finishing another razor and it *felt* very rough, I could tell something was wrong and stopped to wash the stone again, thinking I had particles from the sandpaper in the stone. Same result.

Since this I've tried: using my lower grit stones to make it smoother, using a hard tomonagura (this only raised a tomonagura colored slurry), and finally I caved and borrowed a friends' Shapton glass lapping plate. Thinking I had this nightmare behind me, I gave a few passes on a razor straight from my 8k that had an impeccable mirror finish... The resulting scratches looked like I was using my 2k!

So, my question is, do I need a stone that is equal in hardness to the 16k and higher in grit to give it a smoother surface? After a bit of reading, it sounds like the HC glass stones may be softer and not equal to the task.

I did ask the seller how he lapped it initially, he said with a plain old DMT D8C. Could the Shapton glass lapping plate I used not have been as broken in as the DMT, therefore leaving bigger scratches?

Sorry for the long post, but I'm pulling my hair out here.