Lapping

L

Littlebabycarrot

Joined
Jan 1, 2018
Messages
56
Wet/Dry, diamond hones, flattening stones or loose silicon carbide grit on glass- Ive got wet/dry sandpaper for lapping, but i probably wont use it too often again after hard-to-see particles putting furrows in my 4k/8k waterstone. Glass does work best as a backing for sandpaper but besides the particles between glass and abrasive you also may need to give some attention to where the abrasives wear away as well. So I had a thought and pulled the sandpaper out and just used the glass-topped table and water.
The loose grit works the way loose carbide grit would but slower so i started and would pull the stone up from time to time to see where it was flat and where not, and used my smallish diamond hone to wear away the spots that needed it most and speed things up.
No worrying about torn abrasive paper or gouging furrows... i dont pay too much attn to how i slide the stone on the glass until its nearly done, then i start rotating it clockwise & counter-clockwise to see where it has resistance. If there is resistance i keep up that pattern until it is smooth.
When the stone was smooth i used the coarser 4k side to put some loose grit back on the glass for the black arkansas stone, and repeated with 8k grit on glass. And for this too, i keep the diamond hone around to speed up flattening: when the stone is pulled off the glass gravity and suction pull the grit away from the low spots and the face of the arkansas stone looks like a topographical map, the spots with loose grit stuck to it get lapped with the diamond hone a couple of times, back on the glass to smooth it out, check progress and continue as needed. I believe it took me 60 minut
I know the sandpaper is probably faster but the more variables i have to deal with the more my back seems to ache as i work :)
 
Whoops i guess I also had a question:

I know most folks just lap the black arkansas stones to 2000 grit and then burnish it with some strokes of a knife, chisel or planing iron. But if it has been lapped to 8k, does the burnishing step become redundant?
 
I lapped / leveled my Arkansas stone to only 600 grit on the final finish. When you go higher, that's when burnishing will appear. Yes, I have to put my back into it. DM
 
I know each surgical black stone will vary as natural stones do. But in your case, what grit stone would be used after your black arkansas if you were honing a razor? Conversely which grit would use use before the black? Also, what grit do you estimate your stone to be?
 
The Black's are listed at 9 micron and a straight razor should already be at this grit. If not, work it a lot on your Black after you have lapped it.
My Grandfather shaved with a 'straight' for years coming right off a Black Arkansas and stropping it on a hard-back leather strop. I worked mine
finer, to the Spyderco ultra fine ceramic then stropped. This level will give a good close shave. Straight razor shaving and gents that do it tend to enjoy stones and stropping. If you embrace this platform, -- I have taken my F. Bannister on to a Belgian Yellow Coticule (1-2u) and got a buttery smooth shave. Never wanted to take it any finer. DM
 
David Martin said:
The Black's are listed at 9 micron and a straight razor should already be at this grit. If not, work it a lot on your Black after you have lapped it.
My Grandfather shaved with a 'straight' for years coming right off a Black Arkansas and stropping it on a hard-back leather strop. I worked mine
finer, to the Spyderco ultra fine ceramic then stropped. This level will give a good close shave. Straight razor shaving and gents that do it tend to enjoy stones and stropping. If you embrace this platform, -- I have taken my F. Bannister on to a Belgian Yellow Coticule (1-2u) and got a buttery smooth shave. Never wanted to take it any finer. DM
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Being able to use my stones and strop is atleast half of the appeal; the other half being the $ saved, and putting off the afternoon shadow till the following morning(disposable razors i used to keep track in my head by the number of hours id stay clean shaven, i think 4 hours for a new razor). A question though: to be able to get from a close shave to the best shave i think ive had i ran a small handheld rotary cloth wheel sans-paste by the blade one on each side- it gives a factory-uniform feeling edge. Maybe my usual strop needs to be replaced? Probably no reason to get a 10k stone if i already have an 8k?
 
David Martin said:
The 8k should do it if you get the slurry right. DM
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The 8k actually does all i could ask of it... but obviously, if there is a tool that can improve my results further I'll probably buy it. Assuming my checking account allows ffor it.. although i am hesitant to get the diamond pastes because i tend to enjoy honing more than stropping. Thats why i ordered DMT's d8ee today despite the redundancy( i really want to see how the waterstone compared polish-wise)
 
The Shapton waterstones come in 16 grits starting at 120 (122 microns) and going to 30000 (.49 microns). You can probably find something in that range that will meet your requirements. 120, 220, 320, 500, 1000, 2000, 3000,4000, 5000, 6000, 8000, 10000, 15000, 16000, and 30000.
 
tiguy7 said:
The Shapton waterstones come in 16 grits starting at 120 (122 microns) and going to 30000 (.49 microns). You can probably find something in that range that will meet your requirements. 120, 220, 320, 500, 1000, 2000, 3000,4000, 5000, 6000, 8000, 10000, 15000, 16000, and 30000.
Click to expand...
I've read about those and even browsed through some, lately. I was extremely tempted but the cost is a little prohibitive and so I'll definitely earmark one for the future
 
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