Afternoon fellas (well it's afternoon in London anyways) Now then, I took delivery of 7 sheets of lapping film earlier and I have to say I'm not happy. It arrived in a clear plastic ziplock bag with no instructions, no colour code guide,...zilch. On top of which, the rolling up of the sheets has caused ripples on the surface of each sheet possibly rendering them unusable, I'm not sure on that one, although, presumably one of the prerequisites of using the damn stuff is that it's dead flat, no? Lastly, there are supposed to be 2 different green sheets, one darker than its cousin each with a different grit. However, I can't tell the difference between the 2 greens I have no matter how hard I look at 'em, hold em up to the light etc. They even feel the same. Help me out here fellas. I'm not a happy Cockney bunny today, gents
prolly not much help but https://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/276100O/3mtm-lapping-film-aluminum-oxide.pdf On your base surface, water and all, try running a razor, over you should be able to tell which is 1 micron which is 30 micron Once they are wet in base surface , glass, acrylic, granite, the folds may not be an issue. Where did you buy them from? Can you post a link? 3m film? I be frustrated also if a product I ordered arrived like that.
Send them back, if you can’t tell the difference, Chances are there isn’t one Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Thanks mate, appreciate it Here's the link: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/8-7x11-3...rentrq:848fc6ee16e0aa6a45b2a784ffee00f2|iid:1 I scrolled down the add and found a pic which did actually stipulate which colours represented the various grits. Still, you'd think they would have put a guide in the packaging wouldn't you? I used the 5 the 3 and the 0.3 on a fairly dull straight that I have to little effect. I've a feeling I'll need an angle grinder to put an edge on THAT baby You were right about the glass base 'ironing out' the creases btw. I'll try using the 0.30 on my Dovo tomorrow. It's been honed recently so it should hopefully freshen it up nicely Here's hopin'
The 2 greens are definitely the same grit. Send 'em back? It took nearly 3 weeks for the ********s to get here!
crap i could send you some from the US next time i make an order it will take less than 3weeks contact where you purchases they may make it right, if not return it if you are not making progress on current grit you need to go down to coarser grit as always setting bevel is king i usually set on 1k stone or 12 micron film, make sure bevwl is set before moving up. try marking edge with permanent marker then hone to help confirm try the 12, 9, 5, 3, 1, progression then put a sheet of copy paper wet, under 1 micron and finish with that i no longer use the .3 micron really does much more for edge and i stop at 1 micron now approximate micron to grit conversion 30 --- 600 12 --- 1.5K 9 --- 2K 5 --- 5K 3 --- 10K 1 --- 14K 0.3 -- 100K
Great stuff, my friend. Thanks very much. I'll give it another go tomorrow and let you have a progress report. This thing is so blunt, I shaved with it last night and woke up with a full beard
You might want to touch bases with Jamie Mahoney (Wales), or Gary Haywood (England I believe). Both fine gentlemen and know their stuff, though they have different approaches to honing.
Cheers Steve. One of the other guys mentioned Jamie on a thread in which I was whining about my Dovo not being shave-ready. All I ever do is complain and bellyache about my life you see, My razor is rubbish, my lapping film is creased, my football team keep losing and my wife refuses to leave me I can't go on, mate
What are you mounting them on? Don't buy off eBay get the film's from Axminster or Workshop tools. I was in Axminster in Basingstoke today - all the film's nicely ordered on the shelf - the Veritas lapping plates for £13.99 as well. Job done.
This is my preferred progression. A lot of guys set the bevel on the 30 but personally I think it's too harsh.
@Billyfergie also has a good reputation. @Jamie Mahoney is on this forum. Not sure whether Gary Haywood visits here.
I’m pretty sure I gave you enough rope to hang yourself. Seems like I posted a video of how to use 3m film. I also think I posted a vendor for the films I use which makes the color/micron identification easy to discern.
I'm using a regular sheet of glass from a picture frame as a base. I've washed and squeegeed the thing to make sure there's no grit etc. I do have a ceramic tile also but opted for the glass as I assumed it would be pretty damn flat. I had a look on the Axminster site and found the lapping plate you mention but no film. Maybe they don't sell it online? Did you mean, Workshop Heaven. They stock the film and even sell a sample pack for 11 quid. Here's the link and thanks for your help, mate. https://www.workshopheaven.com/3m-sharpening-film-sample-pack.html
You did indeed post a vid which I watched and followed closely before going at it You didn't send a link to the supplier you use though, so I went ahead and ordered from these Chinese jokers. I won't do that again You also advise starting with a 30 and going down to the 0.3. Sadly, the 30 is missing from the pack (they sent two 1s instead. The coarsest I have is therefore a 12, so I'll start with that and see how we go
I am sorry you've had a poor experience. https://www.ebay.com/itm/293124250710?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&fromMakeTrack=true Here is my marble tile base https://www.homedepot.com/p/MSI-Gre...all-Tile-5-sq-ft-case-THDVENWHT1212/202194418 I clean the tile and wet it with a spray bottle. I lay the film on the tile and use an old credit card as a squeegee. Then I spray the top of the film and start the honing process with push pull strokes. I do twenty on one side and then 20 on the other. It's fine to do more strokes per side if as long as you can keep up with the number of strokes. I usually check how the edge is progressing. It might take over 100 laps per side. It just depends on how the metal is responding.
Thanks Chuck. You're an officer and a gentleman, and if you ever come to London town, I'll treat you to a plate of fish and chips and a glass of warm beer On a serious note, I appreciate your help and forbearance, my friend.
A good pint of warm English bitter should be capable of boiling shellfish and should take at least 2 coatings off the tongue.
Do you fancy a drink? I am a big Brit Box fan. I love how Inspector Morse drank his pints half way down on the first drink. I need to drink a proper English ale if one were available here.
