This has no doubt been discussed before, but I found it hard to search for....
I recall reading on a knife forum that it was best not to lap fine hones on course lapping plates. I believe the argument was that while you would get your hone flat, there would be deep scratches that would cut down on the efficiency of the hone, and concentrate pressure more than necessary on smaller points of the edge. Basically, the thinking goes that you're removing a lot of the surface area that ideally you'd like to be running your edge across.
The recommendation was to instead lap each of your hones successively on the next, progressing to the finest hone. If the first, presumably that course plate, is flat, the rest should then be flat enough, and the scratch patterns should be much finer on the higher grits.
Now I'm a complete newbie at the straight razor maintenance, so I have no informed opinion of my own. But this argument does make sense to me. I'm thinking about purchasing a Naniwa SS set, but it doesn't feel right to be lapping them all on the recommended course DMT or Naniwa lapping plates.
What's the opinion here? More specifically, what are potential downsides for lapping one hone on another, assuming it's done under running water and with thorough rinsing at the end? Finally, any issues with switching brands if using this method, i.e., going from a 4000 Norton to an 8000 Naniwa?
Thanks for any insights!
Jack
I recall reading on a knife forum that it was best not to lap fine hones on course lapping plates. I believe the argument was that while you would get your hone flat, there would be deep scratches that would cut down on the efficiency of the hone, and concentrate pressure more than necessary on smaller points of the edge. Basically, the thinking goes that you're removing a lot of the surface area that ideally you'd like to be running your edge across.
The recommendation was to instead lap each of your hones successively on the next, progressing to the finest hone. If the first, presumably that course plate, is flat, the rest should then be flat enough, and the scratch patterns should be much finer on the higher grits.
Now I'm a complete newbie at the straight razor maintenance, so I have no informed opinion of my own. But this argument does make sense to me. I'm thinking about purchasing a Naniwa SS set, but it doesn't feel right to be lapping them all on the recommended course DMT or Naniwa lapping plates.
What's the opinion here? More specifically, what are potential downsides for lapping one hone on another, assuming it's done under running water and with thorough rinsing at the end? Finally, any issues with switching brands if using this method, i.e., going from a 4000 Norton to an 8000 Naniwa?
Thanks for any insights!
Jack
