Shapton diamond lapping plate

[Ben1979]

Hey fellow shavers
Need some advice. Started shaving with a straight. Got myself a Dovo Sovereign renaissance, Ralf Aust and Portland razor Co. I bought a shapton glass 8000 whetstone an Shapton 12000 ceramic whetstone. Never honed before but going to give this a shot. I was thinking of purchasing a Shapton diamond lapping stone to flatten my honing stones. Do I need this prior to me putting blade to stone or can I wait for a few uses before I outlay some cash. Pleases reserve your opinion on my choice of razors and stones my cash my choice just want thoughts on lapping prior to honing.
Cheers

 

[stone and strop]

Hey fellow shavers
Need some advice. Started shaving with a straight. Got myself a Dovo Sovereign renaissance, Ralf Aust and Portland razor Co. I bought a shapton glass 8000 whetstone an Shapton 12000 ceramic whetstone. Never honed before but going to give this a shot. I was thinking of purchasing a Shapton diamond lapping stone to flatten my honing stones. Do I need this prior to me putting blade to stone or can I wait for a few uses before I outlay some cash. Pleases reserve your opinion on my choice of razors and stones my cash my choice just want thoughts on lapping prior to honing.
Cheers

If you have never honed before then I would lap the stones first, it will aid in your first honings to have a very flat stone.
They are seldom flat when delivered. It is not necessary to buy a diamond plate unless you really want one and I have no idea how flat the diamond Shaptons are anyway. Atomas are good plates. You can get by with some W/D sandpaper on a flat surface. 600 grit will be fine.

Good luck

 

[David]

The stones can be pretty wonky from the factory. I’d definitely lap them before I used them. The shapton diamond plate is overkill for a maintenance lapping stone IMO but if you’ve got the cash and that’s what you want it will definitely do the job.

 

[Gamma]

The hones will need to be flattened, and that flatness will need to be maintained. A diamond plate makes easy work of that for sure. The Shapton plate is not special though - a 325x DMT or 400x Atoma plate will suffice nicely.

 

[quijas23]

I bought the shapton lapping plate and honestly I regret it.
my advice ( and what I’ve ultimately settled on) is a dmt día flat lapping plate.
It’s awesome in every way; it’s bigger, has heft, and seems to stay flatter just as long. Oh and price wise, it is about a third of the price of the laptop plate.

 

[Toro Blanco]

+1 on the Atoma. You can add a 1200 replacement on the back and have a 400/1200 on a single piece.

 

[ajduplessis]

+1 on the Atoma. You can add a 1200 replacement on the back and have a 400/1200 on a single piece.

+1

 

[Ben1979]

Cheers for the advice everyone much appreciated. Decided the Atoma, can get it locally for good price. Options are 400, 600 or 1200 grit. Which would be the best option to flatten 8000 and 12000 shapton water stones?

 

[ajduplessis]

I like finer grits, others might not.

 

[Steve56]

If you’re talking about flattening as in removing a dish from a used stone, the 400 is probably your best bet. If you’re talking about maintaining a hone that’s been flattened before and you’re just removing very minor wear and de-glazing it, the 1200 will work well. It’s also good for slurrying naturals.

Keep in mind that Atomas mellow with use - currently I’m using a very mellow 600 on my finest jnats, it’s not leaving any visible marks. I have a newer 1200 that I’m wearing in, but right now the worn 600 makes a better finish than the newer 1200 - but that will change in time.

 

[stone and strop]

Cheers for the advice everyone much appreciated. Decided the Atoma, can get it locally for good price. Options are 400, 600 or 1200 grit. Which would be the best option to flatten 8000 and 12000 shapton water stones?

600 is good for all purposes.
I have a 400 for flattening and a 1200 for finish dressing.

 

[Ben1979]

Sorry one last question from a noob, I really don't want to wreck my razors or my stones. The diamond lapping plate is just to flatten the two stones mentioned above. Would a 600 be too course to lap my honing stones without the 1200 to finish? In my mind they are new so I just need to rub a little off the top, right? Could the 1200 diamond just suffice?

 

[Rugger007]

Your not going to ruin your synthetic stone lapping it with a diamond plate. I use an Atoma 400 to Lap all of my synthetics and naturals and have never had an issue, I also use my 1200 Atoma to produce slurry on my jnats.
When they were both brand new, I ran a cleaver over them a bunch of times to mellow the diamonds out a bit and level any rogue points that would gouge my jnats. As was said before, for a while my 400 was gentler than my 1200 simply because it was broken in and a year older than my 1200. Now both have settled in and both still cut the way they are supposed to and leave no marks at all on my jnats.

 

[stone and strop]

Sorry one last question from a noob, I really don't want to wreck my razors or my stones. The diamond lapping plate is just to flatten the two stones mentioned above. Would a 600 be too course to lap my honing stones without the 1200 to finish? In my mind they are new so I just need to rub a little off the top, right? Could the 1200 diamond just suffice?

Yes.
It will stick a little more to the stone when the stone is flat.
If you could get just one in 600, that's what I would get. Its a decent enough finish and quick enough to dress.