I got a diamond lapping plate. When you lap ceramic stones do you soak them or get them wet or keep them dry. I got one for Christmas and really excited to hone razors again. I just dont want to damage the stones.
Not all lapping plates are the same grit. I have three that range in coarseness. I would not use my coarse plate on my fine hones. It leaves some deep scratches in my synthetic hones. Also I don’t soak my Naniwa hones for long, not for honing or lapping. My norton hones however get a good soaking.
I got a cheap lapping plate that had great reviews. The one I was looking at was it being level. Which it is. Its dual sided 320 on one side and 1200 on the other. I was thinking use the 320 on the 1k stone and the 1200 on the rest.
Hint: Sharpen a Kitchen Knife or two on the diamonds BEFORE using on the Stones/Hones there are usually a few high diamonds that need to be knocked down I always use plenty of water when using a Plate
What Glen said. Plenty of water - I ruined an Atoma 1200 once by letting slurry get thick and sticky for too long. Now it sheds diamond chunks. It still does duty in the garage, but not on stones or razors.
Can you share link for you diamond plate? What size is it? I’m cheap so I use flat piece of granite with SiC and AlOx, or wet dry sand paper. But if diamond plate works out I may try it.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GRWVT4F/?tag=thshde-20 I took suggestions and put a knife on it first. Tonight I will be leveling stones and let you know how it works.
Looks cheap... no insult intended Hope it works out It doesn’t say what it is mounted too? Curious if it is flat to start with. I’d check it against straight edge
I bought a cheap diamond hone from harbor freight for other uses. It was a thin diamond plated surface mounted on plastic. While I did not buy it for use with straight razor. it was not flat when checked with Inexpensive technical straight edge .. the flimsy diamond plated part was mounted to a warped piece of plastic.
Gotcha. So this plate is thick heavy steel. It's two sided. 320 on one side and 1200 on the other. The base/storage box is nice and durable feeling.
Ok so been dealing with many health issues again. I finally got to try out the lapping plate. It worked really well. I tried lapping the higher stones with the 1200 grit but one pass and it took about 2 minutes to separate the stone from the plate. I did all stones on the 320 grit which to me feels more like a 400 grit. Every stone came out level and smooth. I even lapped a jnat I have and found out it had a very slight dent in the center which is probably why I could never get a good edge on it. I did touch up a razor on the jnat with just water and next shave I will find out if that was my only problem. Fingers crossed that is the only problem i have using a jnat. I still want the welch natural stones. There is someone selling a set for 45 and like 25 shipping. I want to try them as they are not that expensive and it says 8-10k on one 12-15k on second and 15k+ on third. If those are accurate it will be worth it. If not I may waste 70 bucks. But it is cheaper than a jnat and finding out you cant use it.
What jnat do you have? Are you finishing on slurry? Dilucot? Or straight water? what other stones do you have? Buying any natural stone can be a lottery? Unless seller pre tests and or offers try and return policy, there is always a chance the stone you get won’t perform, or you end up with a pre-finisher or worse a door stop. careful with new diamond plate, I understand they will throw off some of diamond plating early on and can cause some deep scratches on razor...
The Grit numbers have almost doubled since their release on eBay LOL No those numbers are completely ludicrous and a WAG at best, HOWEVER Yes they work quite well and are fun to use especially for the price they can be had for
Many people try Welsh slates. Many people go on to cotis, thuris, jnats, Arks.... No one ever seems to go the other way.
I have no idea what jnat I have. It is thin and was just to work until I could buy better. I have tried a few and couldn't get any to work. I tried coti and it worked but I didn't care for the edge. So I'm still looking for what I can get a great edge off of. The search continues. And yes the welch stones could potentially be a door stop. I bought one of the green emerald or something natural stones off of amazon and it's now a paperweight and practice stone for my nephews pocket knife. I cant afford 300 for a good jnat so I'm just trying to find something that works and isn't that expensive.
