How do I lap a jnat?
- Thread starter Xcyte
- Start date
Honestly I just use broken in 2k or 3k wetdry after my DMT if I'm worried about the scratches on a stone from the DMT. Works fine. I find trying to use a tomo to take out lapping scratches often does more harm than good as I get frustrated with how long it takes and wind up making a worse scratch with an edge of the tomo than the DMT left because I get careless.
Grid pattern may help the first few times... but 99.99% of stones it's pretty obvious from the look of the stone when you're into fresh material vs aged surface, so it's not really necessary after that.
How much you want to lap depends on you and the stone. I RARELY bother finishing a stone past my (very broken in) 220 DMT... Exceptions are Some hard arks and those weird textured soft but not friable jnats. Nothing ever needs past ~600-1200 wet/dry in my opinion... but once I come off the DMT, 2000 or 3000 polishes in a matter of seconds anyway, so I just use that; as I have excessive amounts of it from buying mix packs of paper (The lower grit stuff I use for other things).
Grid pattern may help the first few times... but 99.99% of stones it's pretty obvious from the look of the stone when you're into fresh material vs aged surface, so it's not really necessary after that.
How much you want to lap depends on you and the stone. I RARELY bother finishing a stone past my (very broken in) 220 DMT... Exceptions are Some hard arks and those weird textured soft but not friable jnats. Nothing ever needs past ~600-1200 wet/dry in my opinion... but once I come off the DMT, 2000 or 3000 polishes in a matter of seconds anyway, so I just use that; as I have excessive amounts of it from buying mix packs of paper (The lower grit stuff I use for other things).
I personally do exactly what you described. I don't bother with noting mirror, matte finish etc. I just lap and then a harder nagura or tomo nagura. Seems to be fine for my needs.
If it is a hard Jnat I would take it to at least 1k W/D, maybe 2k.
Deep ridges from a coarse lapping will break off in use.
Smooth it with W/D then use tomo.
Deep ridges from a coarse lapping will break off in use.
Smooth it with W/D then use tomo.
- Thread starter
- #6
1k > Suita > Hard Narutaki
@Xcyte
If you have some ways of getting good use out of your new Atoma (reprofiling axes, thinning out your kitchen knives, sharpening your chisels, lapping stones, etc.) I'd suggest doing that first. I remember fresh DMT being very rough and shed a lot of diamond particles, though I hear Atoma is better so you got a head start there.
1) Sounds about right. I don't check for level. In diamond plate, we trust.
2) Sure, a real twofer. Raise a slurry, and remove scratches at the same time. Maybe rinse off first slurry after lapping.
3) You'll end up with a matte surface after lapping.
Looks like you already spent a bunch of dough, so I'll just throw in another shopping suggestion.
Get some way of looking at the bevel, either a lighted-loupe or a usb microscope.
IMHO, most sharpening is fairly simple. You need to get an apex. The rest is just minor details.
Godspeed!
Edit: Let me clarify the last sentence. Let's say you spent like 100 dollars on 1k and 300 dollars on jnat.
There's human tendency to work on the 300 dollar thing more to get the most out of it.
This is false. You can sit there fiddling away on your $300 jnat for hours. If you didn't apex, you are probably just wasting your time. I wasted a lot of my time.
If you have some ways of getting good use out of your new Atoma (reprofiling axes, thinning out your kitchen knives, sharpening your chisels, lapping stones, etc.) I'd suggest doing that first. I remember fresh DMT being very rough and shed a lot of diamond particles, though I hear Atoma is better so you got a head start there.
1) Sounds about right. I don't check for level. In diamond plate, we trust.
2) Sure, a real twofer. Raise a slurry, and remove scratches at the same time. Maybe rinse off first slurry after lapping.
3) You'll end up with a matte surface after lapping.
Looks like you already spent a bunch of dough, so I'll just throw in another shopping suggestion.
Get some way of looking at the bevel, either a lighted-loupe or a usb microscope.
IMHO, most sharpening is fairly simple. You need to get an apex. The rest is just minor details.
Godspeed!
Edit: Let me clarify the last sentence. Let's say you spent like 100 dollars on 1k and 300 dollars on jnat.
There's human tendency to work on the 300 dollar thing more to get the most out of it.
This is false. You can sit there fiddling away on your $300 jnat for hours. If you didn't apex, you are probably just wasting your time. I wasted a lot of my time.
- Thread starter
- #8
@Xcyte
If you have some ways of getting good use out of your new Atoma (reprofiling axes, thinning out your kitchen knives, sharpening your chisels, lapping stones, etc.) I'd suggest doing that first. I remember fresh DMT being very rough and shed a lot of diamond particles, though I hear Atoma is better so you got a head start there.
1) Sounds about right. I don't check for level. In diamond plate, we trust.
2) Sure, a real twofer. Raise a slurry, and remove scratches at the same time. Maybe rinse off first slurry after lapping.
3) You'll end up with a matte surface after lapping.
Looks like you already spent a bunch of dough, so I'll just throw in another shopping suggestion.
Get some way of looking at the bevel, either a lighted-loupe or a usb microscope.
IMHO, most sharpening is fairly simple. You need to get an apex. The rest is just minor details.
Godspeed!
Edit: Let me clarify the last sentence. Let's say you spent like 100 dollars on 1k and 300 dollars on jnat.
There's human tendency to work on the 300 dollar thing more to get the most out of it.
This is false. You can sit there fiddling away on your $300 jnat for hours. If you didn't apex, you are probably just wasting your time. I wasted a lot of my time.
I appreciate it! Yeah, already bought a jewelers loupe. Yeah, it's just the post-atoma dressing and going for a matte or mirror finish that was conflicting for me... I feel like lapping is a rabbit hole in itself, I'm just trying to find the most simple, maximally effective setup that works for me.
Best results will be from a high grit lap then tomo. You can always see how coarse by experimenting.
Dude, you just received a lot of very good advice and in a very short time there.
- Thread starter
- #11
Instead of w/d, could I do a 400 > 1200 atoma > nagura?
Sure, the 1200 Atoma won't be the same finish as 1-2k W/D though.
Still, it should be ok, especially if using naguras. It will get better with use.
I have a 400 and 1200 Atoma I use mostly for synthetics. I like w/d for the most part on high end stones.
