I am looking for feedback on lapping stones. I received my first stone this Christmas, a Norton 4000/8000, to begin my journey into straight razor sharpening. Do I need to lap it prior to my first use or can I wait a bit? Need I purchase an expensive stone or does a wet/dry sandpaper on a glass tile work just as well? Thanks for any advice you can lend to get me started off on the right foot. D
You'll need to lap it but some wetordry sandpaper on a glass plate will work just fine. I'd go with about 400 grit.
Wet-Dry sandpaper is cheaper, but I invested in one of these early on and it has been durable for over 100+plus uses DMT D8c
With many hones Sandpaper is fine but the Norton 4k in particular is a grit sucking hog It tends to pick up and hold onto the loose grit from the Sandpaper and you will find it at the worst possible time A DMT 325 or the like is really a huge help and worth the money to look at if you are going to be honing many razors or are getting into the honing as a hobby too If you use the Sandpaper with a Norton 4k really make sure you rinse the swarf well maybe even trying a Nylon scrub brush after the lapping
I use the DMT in a holder in the utility sink filled with just enough water to cover. I learned this from one of Glenn's ( @gssixgun ) videos. Really helps keep the swarf down.
What about rubbing two water stones together to flatten them? I was watching some Youtube videos on flattening and lapping water stones and someone commented that you can rub two stones together (like a 8000 grit and a 4000 grit) to get them both flat. Has anyone here tried this? It sounds reasonable. Just wanted to know what you experienced guys think about this method.
No You need 3 stones first off to get flat, trust me here, or Google it Again this leads to embedding grit unless you are VERY VERY careful, and depends on the hone you are rubbing together
