Where to buy lapping film....................

[SkepticDEuser]

Hi all,
apologies, I know this has been asked 100time before, but Im located in Australia, so most of the supplier discussed have stupidly expensive shipping costs.
Ive been moving to straight, and have a few practice razors, and a few beauties that I am restoring.
Im getting better and better at honing, and lapping film has had a lot to do with that.
What I will say is that I am trying to put a new edge on a restored razor, and edge seems to need a lot of metal to be taken off, due to corrosion and minor edge dents. The dents are contained mainly within the bevel.

The coarsest film I have is 15micons. Should I be using a coarser grade, and then working my way up, or is 15microns fine enough to remove a small chip and set a new bevel?

So....there probably 3 questions here:
1. best supplier for straight razor specific film? (Australian suppliers would be appreciated, but if not......so be it)
2. Should I use a coarser grade to get rid of small dents?
3.How do you know when you film is at the end of its useful life?

Cheers Rob

 

[rhgg2]

The best options I found in Australia for the 3M non adhesive backed stuff were element14 and digikey. It's still not very cheap.

15 microns is something like a 1k stone, so you could in principle remove a chip but you might burn through heaps of film doing so. If you want something more hardy for chip removal you could get a Shapton Glass 500 from ozbarber for $60 or a fine India stone for $30 plus quite expensive shipping from here:

Norton Bear IB8 Sharpening Stone - Oiled

Norton Bear IB8 Sharpening Stone - Oiled - Norton Bear

www.marssafety.com.au

 

[Lightcs1776]

I ordered mine online. It is too fine for my local stores, but a woodworking store might carry it, as they are useful for sharpening plane irons.

 

[albsat]

Hi all,
apologies, I know this has been asked 100time before, but Im located in Australia, so most of the supplier discussed have stupidly expensive shipping costs.
Ive been moving to straight, and have a few practice razors, and a few beauties that I am restoring.
Im getting better and better at honing, and lapping film has had a lot to do with that.
What I will say is that I am trying to put a new edge on a restored razor, and edge seems to need a lot of metal to be taken off, due to corrosion and minor edge dents. The dents are contained mainly within the bevel.

The coarsest film I have is 15micons. Should I be using a coarser grade, and then working my way up, or is 15microns fine enough to remove a small chip and set a new bevel?

So....there probably 3 questions here:
1. best supplier for straight razor specific film? (Australian suppliers would be appreciated, but if not......so be it)
2. Should I use a coarser grade to get rid of small dents?
3.How do you know when you film is at the end of its useful life?

Cheers Rob

I am in your shoes trying to learn how to hone. I would suggest to get a stone 1000/3000 grit for the bevel setting and use the lapping film for finishing stage. You would need a diamond plate but they are available in aliexpress. You can find lapping films in aliexpress too.

 

[Tomo]

1. +1 for Digikey from Australia.
2. 30 micron film is useful for bevel setting. It’s good to get a few more sheets of the coursest and finest film with your order. You will use those the most.
3. I don’t reuse film for this reason. One and done. Then you always know what you’re dealing with. You can push them further but they loose their bite pretty quickly depending on what your doing. The bald patches get reflective as the grit disappears.

 

[Legion]

Not going to be much help with the lapping film because it's not something I've ever shopped for, but I did notice that NOAH (formally Menzsbiz) sells the shapton glass stones for a pretty decent price on their website, if you wanted to move to stones. It's probably more economical in the long run, and you can use them for knives as well.

 

[Tomo]

Not going to be much help with the lapping film because it's not something I've ever shopped for, but I did notice that NOAH (formally Menzsbiz) sells the shapton glass stones for a pretty decent price on their website, if you wanted to move to stones. It's probably more economical in the long run, and you can use them for knives as well.

When I made the jump from films I bought an Atoma 400 and the Shapton Glass 1k, 3k, 8k set. You can buy a lot of film for that but in the long run it’s probably cheaper. It’s also a lot more convenient. It’s a solid platform to build from as you start to explore the various natural finishers. You can set bevels and do minor repairs on the 1k and the 8k will take you to any finisher. As you say it’s a great setup for knives too so nothing to loose if you fall out of love with straights.

It’s also worth checking out Zanvak, Beard & Blade and japanesetools for this kind of thing in Australia. Someone usually has a sale or introductory offer.

 

[Legion]

When I made the jump from films I bought an Atoma 400 and the Shapton Glass 1k, 3k, 8k set. You can buy a lot of film for that but in the long run it’s probably cheaper. It’s also a lot more convenient. It’s a solid platform to build from as you start to explore the various natural finishers. You can set bevels and do minor repairs on the 1k and the 8k will take you to any finisher. As you say it’s a great setup for knives too so nothing to loose if you fall out of love with straights.

It’s also worth checking out Zanvak, Beard & Blade and japanesetools for this kind of thing in Australia. Someone usually has a sale or introductory offer.

I bought a SG500 because the guys at the kitchen knife forums rave about them, but found it was also good for heavy work on problem razors. Since then I've picked up a 1k and 4k. I still prefer natural stones to finish, but the SG stones get the grunt work done pretty easily.

 

[Tomo]

I bought a SG500 because the guys at the kitchen knife forums rave about them, but found it was also good for heavy work on problem razors. Since then I've picked up a 1k and 4k. I still prefer natural stones to finish, but the SG stones get the grunt work done pretty easily.

I’m a fan of the Shapton Glass stones too. Since I got the set I’ve added the 500, 10k and 30k. It’s a quick and easy progression. They’re fast stones. You just need to refresh the surface regularly to keep them operating at peak performance.