Lapping Day

[David]

I just lapped the LV in the OP. Its a very hard stone and I've used it mostly with water over the last year. The first grid only took around two minutes, then I lapped two more grids and checked with a Starrett straight edge and its Donkey flat.

 

[David]

August is flatness awareness month.

Bump!

 

[Steve56]

I just flattened all my synths a few days ago.

Cheers, Steve

 

[Jnatcat]

I usually lap all stones after 3-4 razors, I have a well worn Atoma plate that cleans them up is a few swipes.

So should I lap my Shapton GS stones after 3-4 razors and how often for JNATS ?

 

[Jnatcat]

The 1200 would be your best bet, but I believe I've read where they don't recommend lapping with the 1200. (Someone please correct me if I'm wrong).
I have a 1200 and lap with it almost daily and it's quite worn, but I've been hard on it and have used it many times on hard naturals so I expect to see some wear.
What kind of stones will you be lapping?

David,

I use my 400 Atoma to lap then finish with a 1200 and it seems to work well, just using the 400 seems to take a bit to break in the stone after.

 

[alpster]

I lap the Shapton Pros every time I use them. Couple of passes on the Dia-Flat and they are ready for next time. FWIW, I usually wait until I have several razors to hone before I use them. Rarely hone a single razor in a session.

 

[Lmarkow]

I lapped my Naniwa 12k with an old plate that was generously PIF'd to me by a friend. I didn't bother drawing lines, since it hasn't been so long since I did that to the hone. Touched up my favorite razor for tomorrow's shave.

 

[Gamma]

I lap stones when they are out of flat - I check after honing. Lapping after each hone session pretty much ensures flat stones all the time if you hone regularly. But taking off material when it isn't needed seems to be overkill or something. Synths can go out of flat even if I don't use them though, so I don't get with the lap after X# of honings theory. If I check for flatness, then I know for sure; and checking is easy. Grid marks help see what's up but I don't rely on removing grid marks to determine flatness - they'll come off way before the stones is actually flat.

 

[Lmarkow]

If the shave stinks tomorrow, I'll break out the straight edge. I'm not a perfectionist when it comes to this (or most) stuff.