Lapping....

[ClemsonTigerz]

If I am adding to a sea of redundancy, I apologize- I have read thread after thread and still have questions.

I will begin by saying I’ve been wet shaving with safety razors for over a decade and have just in the past year gotten my feet whet (couldn’t resist) in the straight razor world.

I own 2 razors, neither of which have any sentimental value & weren’t terribly expensive but aren't poor quality either. My chin is still the reason for blood-letting and I’ve gotten my straight razor shaved closer and closer with less blood being shed in exchange.

I promised myself I wouldn’t get into honing and stones until I improved the shave and had the desire to get better. That is coming along nicely so I got honing stones.

My stones are Shapton:

1000#, 5000#, 8000#, (Yellow Lake Oil Stone [10,000#?]) 12000#, & some Japanese 16000# ceramic.

Those are my stones.

Last night I was honing and I put sweet edges on both my razors. The force is strong with me, but I’m not a Jedi yet. Good shave, closest yet.

At any rate- I see a loooooooot of y’all about lapping film, diamond, stones, w/d, etc. I have seen the Atoma 400 thrown around in conversation- and what I’m actually looking for is:

For the grit range I have, is there one lapping stone sufficient for the entire range? I am willing to purchase quality and an Atoma isn’t going to break the bank, but I’m trying to figure out what it is I need to get the dinks and kinks out of the surface of my ceramics. Thank you for your time- Here’s today’s shave & my stones. The one with the writing on it is a 16000# but I don’t know which brand. As you can see I’ve already got my first natural stone for the natty progression. Thanks again! Cheers!

 

[1Speedster]

Either a well-worn DMT8C or an Atoma 400 will do the trick for you. Consider purchasing an adjustable stone holder for mounting and use.

 

[ClemsonTigerz]

Either a well-worn DMT8C or an Atoma 400 will do the trick for you. Consider purchasing an adjustable stone holder for mounting and use.

Excellent, thank you!!! Just ordered the Atoma 400. I’ll look around for adjustable stone holders-

 

[rbscebu]

Do not use a whetstone holder. Hold your whetstones in hand. To further improve the edge, consider using 0.5u, 0.25u and 0.1u pasted balsa for final finishing. Pasted Balsa stropping is well covered in B&B.

 

[ClemsonTigerz]

Do not use a whetstone holder. Hold your whetstones in hand. To further improve the edge, consider using 0.5u, 0.25u and 0.1u pasted balsa for final finishing. Pasted Balsa stropping is well covered in B&B.

Do you use all 3? (0.5u, 0.25u, 0.1u)
Or do you use one? I guess my question is do you need all 3? It looks like diamond is the preferred based on what I’m reading- and it looks like the 0.1u is the finer finish of the 3- I guess I’m asking if you make a strop for all 3 or will one suffice?

 

[rbscebu]

Do you use all 3? (0.5u, 0.25u, 0.1u)
Or do you use one? I guess my question is do you need all 3? It looks like diamond is the preferred based on what I’m reading- and it looks like the 0.1u is the finer finish of the 3- I guess I’m asking if you make a strop for all 3 or will one suffice?

For the Method you use all 3 diamond pasted; 0.5u, 0.25u and 0.1u. you will need 3 separate balsa strops, one for each diamond paste.

0.5u is about 50k grit, 0.25u is 100k and 0.1u is about 200k grit. Coming off your 16k stone onto 0.5u should be about right. Then progress through 0.25u and finish with 0.1u.

Once you have a Method edge, then you only need the 0.1u to maintain that edge "forever". I say that because you may later physically damage that edge and will need to work through your progression again to fix it.

 

[Friedramen]

Hold your stones how you want; bench or in your hand. It doesn't matter. A stone holder was one of the best purchases I made.

 

[rbscebu]

Hold your stones how you want; bench or in your hand. It doesn't matter. A stone holder was one of the best purchases I made.

While developing my Method edge technique, I found the stone holder useless when working with finer grits. It didn't give me the control I needed for the edge I was chasing.

The only time I bench hone is when doing the early rough bevel set. From then on it is all hand held.

Each to their own.

 

[ClemsonTigerz]

Great input! Much appreciated!

 

[Peppery John]

You have a great collection of stones. With the Atoma 400 to keep your stones flat, you just need the pasted balsas to finish off.

 

[Gamma]

I've found the 400x Atoma to be the best all-around lapping plate out there; more durable than a 325 DMT, usually flatter too. The one advantage DMT has is that they make a 10x4" plate in both continuous and interrrupted surfaces. While the Atoma will last longer, the 10x4" surface area keepts it in place as a serious contender for me. I use Atomas though.
You may want to have finer w/d paper around to finish-lap some stones sometimes. I find that, usually, 600x is fine enough.

 

[ClemsonTigerz]

You have a great collection of stones. With the Atoma 400 to keep your stones flat, you just need the pasted balsas to finish off.

I have a bundle of Basswood blocks coming from Michael's as well as 2 containers of CrOx from Maggard Razors on the way~ they're thick blocks so I don't think I'll do the substrate bit~ I'll pick the best side of the best block and use that. Heard about basswood as being a better material than balsa so I skipped balsa altogether. I'm thinking about getting some beeswax to melt in a double boiler pot and then dump the paste into the wax once it's melted, mix it, then pour it into a candy mold~ figured I'd make my own crOx crayons. I'm thankful to have some small projects during this stay at home business!

 

[ClemsonTigerz]

I've found the 400x Atoma to be the best all-around lapping plate out there; more durable than a 325 DMT, usually flatter too. The one advantage DMT has is that they make a 10x4" plate in both continuous and interrrupted surfaces. While the Atoma will last longer, the 10x4" surface area keepts it in place as a serious contender for me. I use Atomas though.
You may want to have finer w/d paper around to finish-lap some stones sometimes. I find that, usually, 600x is fine enough.

good tip~ thanks! My Atoma 400 arrived yesterday evening~ I lapped my stones today & all I can say is what that thing does is amazing! had a few imperfections wiped away with this thing. I remembered to do the 45'degree bit to edge off the corners on all 4 sides. It took about 15 minutes to do 6 stones. Just waiting for UPS to deliver my lumber & paste & I'm in business.

 

[rbscebu]

I have a bundle of Basswood blocks coming .... ~ they're thick blocks so I don't think I'll do the substrate bit~ ....

Not a good idea. The main purpose of the sudstrate is to help prevent the wood (balsa or basswood) from warping. It is harder to stop thicker timber from warping than thinner timber.

Best you at least glue a piece of ceramic tile about 6mm thick to the underside of your thick basswood blocks.

I use 10mm thick balsa, glued to 6mm thick ceramic tile, glued to 20mm thick closed-cell structural foam. This gives a lighter balsa strop then using 20mm thick cast acrylic substrate.

Remember, you are hand balsa stropping so weight matters.

 

[ClemsonTigerz]

Not a good idea. The main purpose of the sudstrate is to help prevent the wood (balsa or basswood) from warping. It is harder to stop thicker timber from warping than thinner timber.

Best you at least glue a piece of ceramic tile about 6mm thick to the underside of your thick basswood blocks.

I use 10mm thick balsa, glued to 6mm thick ceramic tile, glued to 20mm thick closed-cell structural foam. This gives a lighter balsa strop then using 20mm thick cast acrylic substrate.

Remember, you are hand balsa stropping so weight matters.

Ah- interesting- so I can essentially carve off a few blocks and make multiple strops from the same block! Brilliant!

How thick would you say would be the absolute thickest I should make the wood?

 

[rbscebu]

Ah- interesting- so I can essentially carve off a few blocks and make multiple strops from the same block! Brilliant!

How thick would you say would be the absolute thickest I should make the wood?

I am not familiar with the properties of basswood. For balsa I wouldn't go much over 12mm (1/2"). 6mm to 10mm seems to be ideal for balsa.

 

[Gamma]

good tip~ thanks! My Atoma 400 arrived yesterday evening~ I lapped my stones today & all I can say is what that thing does is amazing! had a few imperfections wiped away with this thing. I remembered to do the 45'degree bit to edge off the corners on all 4 sides. It took about 15 minutes to do 6 stones. Just waiting for UPS to deliver my lumber & paste & I'm in business.

1" thick balsa under 12" in length will not warp when epoxied to 1/4" glass. The surface may, however, undulate due to exposure to humidity, but that will happen regardless of dimension.
Same for Basswood, which is less prone (usually) to dimensional instability than balsa. I use ultra-dense balsa so it's a bit less suceptible to the elements, but even the lightweight stuff stays put when fixed to a plate correctly. If you want to do it right, make sure the bottom glue layer is perfectly seamless and without gaps, and when cured - seal the sides all around with lacquer. Then lap flat.
Neither basswood or balsa of any type are dense enough to cause weight issues when fixed to a rigid mounting plate. I use glass tiles and when epoxied to a 6x2x1 Basswood block the combo comes in at 360 g.