For those of you using the Norton flattening stone, how often do you lap it? I use my Nortons for kitchen and pocket knives, so I have to lap it often enough with it's sister stone (the Norton flattening stone). How long does it take before needing to be lapped (relative to it's use of course)? Is there a way of judging its flatness? Thanks!
norton SiC lapping stone
- Thread starter olps
- Start date
My first hone (other than a barbers hone) was the Norton 4K/8K. The first time I lapped it on abrasive paper, I got grit embedded in the 8K side and, thus, ended up with a Norton Flattening Stone. The NFS should only be used for synthetic hones, but I didn't know that, so when I got a vintage coticule that was really dished and it was taking me hours to flatten it with abrasive paper on glass, I decided to try the NFS, which made quick work of it. However, the NFS leaves a rough surface, so when I went back to the abrasive paper on glass to finish it, I discovered that the coticule flattened on the NFS was higher in the center than the sides, i.e., the NFS was dished.
So to answer your question, you can flatten your Norton hone on the NFS and then test the flatness using abrasive paper on glass. If the NFS is dished, you will see it on the glass. In my opinion, the NFS gets dished pretty quickly, which is one of the reasons why I have decided to concentrate more on natural stones. Of course, the more common solution is to get a DMT8C to lap your hones.
So to answer your question, you can flatten your Norton hone on the NFS and then test the flatness using abrasive paper on glass. If the NFS is dished, you will see it on the glass. In my opinion, the NFS gets dished pretty quickly, which is one of the reasons why I have decided to concentrate more on natural stones. Of course, the more common solution is to get a DMT8C to lap your hones.
I was thinking to buy NFS but decided against it because of reviews of it being not flat. At present I am using for rough work (like recently antique dished coticule 2-3 mm deep) an old worn out linisher belt (originaly I guess 40-60 grit)stuck on piece of granite work top with double sided carpet tape. Then finishing off with with sand papers with water. Whole job done within 20 mins. However I am looking to try SIC powder on glass for rough flattening as some of my hones are realy hard and to flatten them takes ages and buying dedicated lapping plate is out of my world.
By the way, when I flatten my Norton 4K/8K on the NFS under running water, half of the slurry in the sink is green from the stone, which means that the NFS is wearing pretty fast and there's no way that it's wearing evenly. So, I'm pretty sure that even the Norton hones dish the NFS pretty fast.
