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Lapping Plate

Lapping plates

Being we’re all into sharp & often pointy tools ..aka.. knives … there exists a good chance we own some natural sharpening stones. With use .. these natural sharpening stones loose their "flatness” & can benefit from the occasional “lapping”. Lapping being the process by which the stone's surface used for sharpening is returned to a FLAT state.

I found there are plenty of products on the market to assist in this process. Until recently ..last night.. I had no idea how downright pricey they could be. WOW, one can easily spend literally hundreds of dollars for some of these tools. Likely .. worth it if one makes their living from sharpening tools & owns stones worth literally thousands of dollars. For me .. it would be far more economical to simply purchase a new sharpening stone.

Anyway .. I would like to offer a slightly less expensive approach to attaining the same end result. That being .. a flat surface on the sharpening side of one’s natural whetstone.

In March of 2016 .. I went on a buying binge of diamond whetstones. At the time .. I owned only 3 of EZE-LAP’s DIAMOND HONE & STONEs. At the same time .. I’d come to own enough D2 & VG10 core laminated blade steel that I needed the diamond whetstones. In that process .. I obtained a whetstone that did NOT have a solid coverage of abrasive material. Instead .. it had a hexagonal honeycomb arrangement of pads of abrasive material.

NOTE: I cannot & will not recommend this type of whetstone for common sharpening of a tool / knife. I of course tried it .. as I did them all. However .. with this honeycomb arrangement of abrasive pads .. I (almost instantly) caught the edge of one of the pads with the cutting edge of the knife I was sharpening & immediately DULLED the cutting edge to the point of expressing profanity .. loudly !!! It has not been used for that purpose since.

However .. during another project .. I used it for “lapping” some mating parts of a handle for a knife I have under construction. At which time .. another iKC member chimed in with the suggestion that I might find the “honeycomb” whetstone useful for lapping natural stones. And indeed .. I have found it works wonderfully for that purpose.

Thank you, John !!!

I can also state it works well for “lapping” scale material ..&.. just about any other material one needs to evenly & flatly mate up against a flat surface ..or.. each other.

NOTE: These are all 0.040” or 1mm thick ..therefor.. they will require a FLAT backing surface of some type. Personally, I use a portion of a laminated table leaf left over from a previous project & cut down to the appropriate size. I’m confident we can all come up with some FLAT material to provide the required FLAT backing support.

The particular whetstone I’m referring to is a 1000 grit hexagonal honeycomb padded diamond whetstone I purchased for a whopping $4.54. That exact stone is no longer available from the vendor I purchased it from back in March of last year. However .. the same stone is available through other vendors. Also .. for the purpose of lapping .. coarser grits may occasionally be preferred. Toward that end .. I did some further research and have a few additional options listed below. The first list offers examples of the same size I originally presented in the other knife project. These all can be purchased for under $5.oo ea.

For the purpose of lapping .. larger sizes can be beneficial. Toward that end .. I have listed some examples of the larger sizes. Specifically . A 6” X 6” .. a 7.8” X 7.8” ..&.. a 9” X 3.14”. These larger sizes do not exceed $20.oo a piece in price.

All .. well below what I was finding on the net for “official” lapping plates.

All the whetstones listed in this section are of dimensions = 150mm X 63mm X 1mm

……… OR ……...

5.963” long X 2.480” wide X 0.040” thick.

1000 grit diamond hexagonal “honeycomb” whetstone … $4.65 ea

1000 grit diamond hexagonal “honeycomb” whetstone … $3.99 ea

400 grit diamond hexagonal “honeycomb” whetstone … $4.91 ea

For the purposes of lapping .. larger sizes are more versatile & sometimes preferred .. depending on the size of the stone being lapped. SO0o .. here are some options addressing that issue. NOTE: These larger whetstone sheets have a solid abrasive surface ..NOT.. the “hexagonal honeycomb” style of the smaller whetstones listed above. As such .. I would expect them to require far more frequent cleaning during the lapping process.

6” X 6” size … available grits include 240, 500, 600, 800, 1000, 2000, & 3000 … $15.99 ea

7.8” X 7.8” … available grits = 240, 600, 1000, & 2000 … $18.75 ea

9” X 3.14” … available grits = 80, 100, 120, 150, 180, 240, 260, 320, 400, 500, 600, 800, 1K, 1.2K, 1.5K, 1.8k, 2K, 2.5K, & 3K … $7.99 ea

As always .. comments are welcomed.

Enjoy

D ale

1 member likes this

Replies to This Discussion

KnifeMakerPermalink Reply by Carl Rechsteiner on April 11, 2017 at 6:43

Thanks for sharing, I've always taken the longer route and used SilCarb paper on a marble flat with windex as a flushing fluid. Works but does take a lot longer than the diamond laps. Just that I use a lot of the SilCarb in various grits to rub out my blades when finishing, so I buy in bulk and have a lot on hand.

>those are great prices you have listed for diamond laps. I have used some of the smaller ones for prepping cabs of stones for setting in jewelry. Stuck them somewhere safe when I quit that stuff......now I have to go hunt for them/p>

In MemoriamPermalink Reply by D ale on April 11, 2017 at 9:22

Thanks, Carl.

.
Just a heads up .. average delivery time is 17~20 days. The prices are good because you're buying direct from China .. the trade off is the long delivery time. Both I & JJ have been using AliExpress for some time now. Me for 6+ yrs .. I can't speak directly for JJ ..but.. I think its in the 3+ year range for him.

I've got a 6" X 6" plate in 3K grit, a 9" X 3.14" in 3K grit, plus the 5.96” X 2.48” in 400, 2K, & 3K grits. All of those have the solid coverage of the diamond abrasive material. Then I've also the 1K grit in the honeycomb pattern that prior to the lapping application .. I had ZERO use for. I'd written it off as a learning experience.

So far .. my experience with these are that they are holding up as well as EZE-LAP's product. I've got EZE-LAP's Diamond Hone & Stone in 400, 600, & 1200 grits. I've also got their model 201 small plate (2" x 3.26") in 600 grit.

And Carl .. let me thank you again for your emphasis on the safety that you tendered in one of the other discussions. People have a tendency to take comments more seriously when they're given by a knifemaker who has known experience. And safety is something that can never be over emphasized .. imo.

Enjoy your day

D ale

Permalink Reply by John Bamford on April 11, 2017 at 10:13

I think I will have a go at ordering one of the diamond plates from AliExpress , so far I have only looked at the site and wondered about such long delivery . However I really do need a large plate for my stones and the prices of the ones I see guys using on Youtube are just out of my range . The lapping plate that seems to be mostly recommended is in excess of $250 over here .

Most guys use them under running water Dale to save the cleaning of the plate . I have been using wet and dry paper on a sheet of granite, wet, and that works fine but some of the Japanese waterstones are very soft indeed , that's why they need flattening so often, and I do worry about some of the abrasive getting stuck in a finishing stone . That may not be too bed with a knife but a piece of coarse abrasive in a 12000 grit stone could do damage to a razors edge and my soft face !!

In MemoriamPermalink Reply by D ale on April 11, 2017 at 12:07

John,

It is the LOOOONG delivery time that will just drive you nuts. Until I got used to it .. I'd be thinking .. I got screwed. However, after 6 years of doing business through the site .. I've (more or less) gotten used to it.

As I mentioned to Carl above .. the pricing is great .. the trade-off is the extended delivery time. We've all gotten so used to being able to purchase an item on line & have it delivered in a relatively short period of time .. even next day if we are willing to pay more in delivery fees than we pay for the product itself.

What I can honestly state, John .. is that I would not still be doing business with them 6+ years now if it wasn't worth it.

And yes .. I about fell off my chair when I Googled "lapping plates" & saw the pricing.

!!!!! .. WHOAH ... !!!!!

That was the moment I decided to write this discussion.

I don't know which size plate you are considering.

the 150mm X 150mm

...OR...

the 200mm X 200mm

...OR...

the 230mm X 80mm

They all offer some variety in grits & I've no idea what best suits your needs. There is one thing I'd like to pass on that JJ was kind enough to point out for me. Initially, they are all more abrasive than once they are "broken in". i.e. once they've been used a bit & that "brand spanking new" surface is worn in a bit. What I would highly suggest is just what JJ suggested for me & what I have found to be true. Use one of your lesser valued stones to thoroughly break in the entire surface of the new whetstone.

...or...

in your case .. the new lapping plate.

It sounds like you've already a good FLAT supporting structure .. the sheet of granite you mentioned. That is the one downside of these that I can think of. Being only 1mm thick .. they are flexible. However .. as long as you've a FLAT supporting structure to place underneath them .. you're covered. After that .. just spend the minor extra time required to break down that "brand spanking new" abrasive surface & you'll be set to go .... for a fraction of the prices I was seeing last night. The bottom line is .. you'll get the same result .. a very flat surface on your natural stone ..&.. for a fraction of the prices I was seeing last night that caused me to write this discussion.

AliExpress's search function is ..difficult.. @ best. If you PM me the size & grit you're considering .. I'll gladly help you find the least expensive solution. It can be amazing how much the pricing can vary from vendor to vendor for exactly the same item. That is one aspect of the site that puts a lot of people off ..I think. The dysfunctional search function. Anyway .. PM me with the size & grit you are considering .. give me a couple hours ..&.. I'll help you narrow it down to 2 or 3 of the least expensive sources for the exact same item.

Enjoy

D ale

John Bamford said:

I think I will have a go at ordering one of the diamond plates from AliExpress , so far I have only looked at the site and wondered about such long delivery .

Permalink Reply by Steve Scheuerman (Manx) on April 11, 2017 at 14:36

Here is mine...fairly large, flattens my Edge Pro stones without an issue.Quite heavy and thick.

http://www.chefknivestogo.com/140grdistflp.html

Permalink Reply by John Bamford on April 11, 2017 at 14:55

Thanks for the offer of guiding me round the site Dale . I am looking for a plate around 8 inches by 3 inches and 400/600 grit Is fine by me . Course bigger is fine also .

In MemoriamPermalink Reply by D ale on April 11, 2017 at 14:57

Steve,

That is both a good price & a good product .. based on the 4.5 out of 5 star review from customers. And we all know how cut-throat customer reviews can be.

!!! .. Thank You .. !!!

For sharing a good deal ..AND.. that's what this is all about .. helping fellow members find the best deals when it comes to knives & knife related product.

Thanks again, Steve !!

Steve Scheuerman (Manx) said:

Here is mine...fairly large, flattens my Edge Pro stones without an issue.Quite heavy and thick.

http://www.chefknivestogo.com/140grdistflp.html

In MemoriamPermalink Reply by D ale on April 11, 2017 at 15:03

Thanks, John .. that's the info I needed.

I'm in the middle of something at the moment

..but..

before the day is out .. I'll PM you a few options.

D ale

John Bamford said:

Thanks for the offer of guiding me round the site Dale . I am looking for a plate around 8 inches by 3 inches and 400/600 grit Is fine by me . Course bigger is fine also .

In MemoriamPermalink Reply by D ale on April 12, 2017 at 12:38

John

Did you get the PM I sent ??

D ale

Permalink Reply by John Bamford on April 12, 2017 at 13:24

Yes I got it this morning thanks Dale . didn't have much time to check it out until after work and the weekly shopping trip though . I have sent for one of the diamond plates , the one Manx recommends looks good but would cost more in shipping than the one from China has cost in total.

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