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Lapping Plates

I've heard some not so good things about the Norton product, but haven't seen any discussion on any others. Do any members here use the DMT lapping plate or the Shapton diamond lapping plate? I'm sure there are other products out there too.

My original intent for my DMT 600 was for lapping but I quickly learned that a bigger piece of W/D sandpaper works better.

Thinking long term for lapping, though, a Shapton or DMT made specifically for lapping might save me some time, money, and inconvenience.
 

Slash McCoy

I freehand dog rockets
I'm strictly a sandpaper guy. Better and more consistent results. But both DMT and Shap have their fanboys. They do work.
 
A lot of people use the DMT D8C for lapping. I have one and it works just fine. Only problem is it tends to stick quite a bit while lapping. The Atoma plates cost more but far less than the Shapton. The Atoma has a interrupted surface which cuts way down on the sticking. I have never used one but it is the next hone purchase I plan on making.
 

Steve56

Ask me about shaving naked!
If I need to take off a bit to get flat, I'm a sandpaper on plate glass guy too. If I just need to dress the hone a little I've been using an Atoma 1200. I usually finish up with a Hakka koppa.

Cheers, Steve
 
The DMT 600 is not recommended for lapping. Lapping on that stone will kill it.

The recommended plates are the 325x or their newer 'lapping plate'.
I'm not convinced the lapping plate is all that much better than a regular plate though.
It's 'flatter' but it's 120x - Im going to be using w/d afterwards anyway so I feel that the 'flatness' factor is lost there.

I use a 220/325 Duo for grunt work. I use w/d afterwards to clean up the mess.
 
I use a DMT extra-coarse/coarse duo-sharp for lapping synthetic stones (extra-coarse for ~1k, coarse for ~4k+). For natural stones, I prefer to use half a sheet of w/d sandpaper on a slab of glass.
 
The diaflat actually looks really nice to me, but not at that price. I got my XC for like $50 and it works just fine. 120grit doesn't really worry me much at all (XC is 220). Softer stones will lose the scratch pattern almost immediately with simple use. Harder ones I can knock it off with any number of methods, from a simple massage, to a rubbing with a slurry/nagura/similar type and already flat stone. If the stone is ludicrously hard and I can't take the time to fix it myself, I'd probably try rubbing it down with some high grit paper or film... but I'd still be glad of how coarse my plate was... since that fix takes seconds, whereas the coarse plate saved me perhaps Hours of work trying to lap on finer material.

Honestly, I'd disagree that the flatness is lost, as I wouldn't even lap the stone after using that plate, I'd just rub the paper against the surface freehand (wrapped around a block of wood)... because the raised scratch pattern will abrade much, much, much, much, MUCH more readily than you're going to cut into and remove material from the solid stone beneath it, I've found doing this never throws out a stones flatness. Just don't bear down on it and you skirt the surface, knocking out the scratch pattern with little effort.

I'd take coarser and faster for a lapping stone any day of the week. The work removing scratches is much easier and faster for me than the work trying to lap with finer grits.
 
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Yea the DMT 600 should definitely not be used for lapping. I learned that almost immediately. I got a piece of float glass cut that I normally use with wet dry paper. The DMT lapping plate supposedly has a different diamond paste on I that will stand up to more abuse and it is certified flat with a .0005 tolerance. I don't know how flat the other DMT plates are but I don't think they're certified flat. The DMT is much bigger than the other plates too. It seems like it would be worth it, but it's right around that price range where I'm still a little reluctant to buy it.

The Shapton says it's for the Shapton stones. I don't see why you couldn't use it with other stones, but it costs a lot of money.

I was thinking of buying a more coarse DMT for lapping but unless I'm lapping a smaller coticule, I'd rather use a bigger piece of wet dry on my glass plate.

Anyone have the DMT lapping plate though?
 
My DMT duo-sharp is not all that flat, but since I'm turning the stone from end to end, I figure it all averages out, and the stone comes out okay. To test flatness, I lay a stainless steel rule across the stone's diagonals and try to slide a .001" (1/1000 of an inch) piece of stainless steel tape beneath it. On the DMT, there's a little bit of play in the corners at one end, although not much.
 
I always have to lap over lower grits from a diamond plate.
Hand sanding takes off peaks - it does not bring the entire surface down enough for me though.
I don't bear down - I've been lapping stones almost weekly, sometimes daily, for years now - that part got sorted out right away.

Putting a 4-10x loupe on the stone's surface always reveals patterning that I want gone. I have this exact situation with this teensy Trans Ark going on right now. It's tamed, but not where I want it.

Sure - coarser is faster. Just used some 200x-ish SIC powder to get where I want to go with a couple stones.
Messy though - and not all that exacting but it ripped material off pretty damn quick and the resulting mess on the surface was easier to deal with than what rogue peaks on a DMT leaves behind. I'm about to try the 400x SIC on the little Ark actually. Hopefully it won't mess up the leveling I've done.
 
I need to get a flat ruler and use my feeler gauge from my toolbox at work and check for flatness... I periodically lap when I think it needs to be done which probably isn't the best method. I've been lapping almost every day lately though.

Sandpaper sounds like the best option right now though. The DMT lapping plate just seems like it would be nice to have.
 
This is the way to go for lapping. Certified flat granite lapping plate 9"X12"X3" 28lbs. Lap any stone at any grit by changing the w/d paper, which I buy cheap in bulk. It also makes a perfect base for film honing. Total cost with shipping about$50.
 
Too big for my sink, to heavy to want to deal with it, and I don't play with saran wrap.
Otherwise, yeah - it's perfect.
 
I always have to lap over lower grits from a diamond plate.
Hand sanding takes off peaks - it does not bring the entire surface down enough for me though.
I don't bear down - I've been lapping stones almost weekly, sometimes daily, for years now - that part got sorted out right away.

Putting a 4-10x loupe on the stone's surface always reveals patterning that I want gone. I have this exact situation with this teensy Trans Ark going on right now. It's tamed, but not where I want it.

Sure - coarser is faster. Just used some 200x-ish SIC powder to get where I want to go with a couple stones.
Messy though - and not all that exacting but it ripped material off pretty damn quick and the resulting mess on the surface was easier to deal with than what rogue peaks on a DMT leaves behind. I'm about to try the 400x SIC on the little Ark actually. Hopefully it won't mess up the leveling I've done.

What is the process that you're referring to with SIC powder?
 
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