lapping Spyderco fine ceramic

hardheart

hardheart

Joined
Sep 19, 2001
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what would work to lap a spyderco fine benchstone to make it like an ultra fine, or finer? Sal himself stated that he refined the surface of the fines before his company developed the UF, and straight razor users lap their UFs and compare them to 12K+ stones after. I"ve read DMT coarse, translucent Arkansas, and 1K sandpaper, but not directly related to what the results ook like on sharpened steel for each lap used.
 
I used a X-coarse DMT to resurface my medium stone so maybe a fine or X-fine depending on how smooth you want it. You will need diamonds for the job though.
 
I ordered the Spyderco fine and lapped/resurfaced/leveled one side based on that post by Sal.Using a worn down fine 600 grit diamond stone.This worked great and has given me the same as a ultra fine 2000 grit on one side and 1800 on the other.This really eats away on a diamond stone as well as doing the same on a black hard arkansas.DM
 
I lapped one side of a UF to make it flatter and smoother (for straightrazor use). It took hours on DMT's and wet-dry.
 
You can buy another of the same stone and lap each other with it, in effect lapping both your original stone, and the stone that you don't need and send it over to me =)
 
just tried it on an UF sharpmaker rod, SiC & diamond. Even my girlfriend could feel the difference between the lapped & unlapped sides, without knowing which was which.
 
Does the coarseness/grit of the lapping medium matter? If I use a DMT XXC (extra-extra coarse) to lap a Spyderco UF rod, will the (very) coarse DMT leave a texture on the UF rod that will be rougher as compared to before it was lapped?
 
photonjunkie said:
Does the coarseness/grit of the lapping medium matter? If I use a DMT XXC (extra-extra coarse) to lap a Spyderco UF rod, will the (very) coarse DMT leave a texture on the UF rod that will be rougher as compared to before it was lapped?
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It might work to make one side of the medium stone into a coarse ceramic but it would also do the same to the UF. The best way would be to rub two of the exact same stone together but I don't know how well that would work with ceramics and it would take forever. Using a Fine DMT would probably be a better choice (yes, lapping medium matters) but remember to use lots of water and light pressure. The ceramic will wear on the diamond stone so it will either be less agressive after lapping or be a expensive steel paper weight. Just something to think about.
 
matt321 said:
I lapped one side of a UF to make it flatter and smoother (for straightrazor use). It took hours on DMT's and wet-dry.
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Yeah, last time a bought a replacement Sharpmaker medium rod, the flats were anything but :grumpy: ... couldn't believe how long it took with a coarse diamond plate just to get two sides somewhat usable.
 
thanks knifenut1013. I was thinking of lapping my UF sharpmaker rods because the flats are not so flat and to make it a little smoother, but I didn't want screw it up and make it coarser. I may try my DMT XXC on one of the rods to do most of the flattening and then finish up with my DMT Fine or XF.

It probably won't make much of a difference but curiosity and obsessiveness drives me to do silly things sometimes.
 
I might lap ,y UF Benchstone with my DMT Fine. I hope I don't ruin the Diasharp, but I pretty much only use it for final stage flattening of my 8K and 16K waterstones, and that really isn't a required step. It should be an interesting comparison to see how a lapped UF stone polishes. I may not be able to do this for a little bit because my wife just had surgery today, but maybe I'll get to sneak in a little time when she is taking a nap to try it out.

Mike
 
I just bought a spyderco UF rod and was considering lapping one side for the extra smoothness.

If I don't care about flatness and stop when the new finish is achieved, how long would you guys expect this to take on 1200 grit SiC sandpaper?
 
Some random thoughts on lapping ceramics:

Use something coarse and tough like a XXC DMT to get them flat. Then use finer abrasives like wet-dry sandpaper to achieve the desired finish.

There is a natural tendency for the medium rods to get smoother with usage. For instance, a medium rod that is worn out from long-term heavy usage is going to be smoother (i.e slower cutting). So if you start lapping these ceramics, it might be easier to lose cutting power than to recreate it, especially for the medium ceramic. (Spyderco does not recommend lapping.)

I'm not sure the flat sides of the ceramic rods are meant to be dead flat. Wouldn't a very slight convexity be more useful. For sure, any hollowing would make them useless. Also, it would be difficult during normal use to hit the sweet spot on a totally flat surface. A little arch would help to keep you somewhere on the surface, whereas with total flatness you would always be on one edge or the other.

My lapped UF bench stone is so smooth I'm not sure it even cuts anymore. I used it to touchup a 50-year old razor last night. I rubbed the UF on a 12K waterstone to pick up some 12K slurry. After a dozen laps on the UF with the razor and the slurry was turning grey from swarf. Then I washed off the slurry and did more laps on the UF without slurry. Then a few dozen laps on 1 micron diamond lapping film on glass. Then some stropping laps on nexcare tape on glass dusted with 0.5-micron chrome oxide. This morning I stropped it on a leather hanging strop and shaved. Ahhh, feel the glide!
 
Jimmy,Not long 20-30 min..Rug some w/ water then check.As your lapping/rubbing you'll see the slury appear.Rinse,check and stop when it feels right.Yes,the grit you lap with does make a difference.I lapp w/ a worn fine 600grit but when purchased was more like 300-400grit.Then it wears to 600-700grit.This leaves a nice x-fine surface and very flat (.0005") on Arkansas or ceramic.Doing just 3-4 of these will severely wear a diamond stone.DM
 
Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought Diamonds were the only thing that would cut ceramic?
 
Could be--its hard, 9 on Mohs scale. But the carrier/matrix matters.The Spyderco is of sapphire.My diamond barely cut it.But I guess SiC @ 9.5 Mohs could cut it.As its hard enough.DM
 
I guess it could work but I would still use diamonds to make sure the surface was cut properly.
 
knifenut1013 said:
I guess it could work but I would still use diamonds to make sure the surface was cut properly.
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I've tried making a slurry with 1 micron diamond paste on a flat granite block to lap my waterstone and it worked great! Should work for the Spyderco UF as well. I save the paste afterward because it's expensive.
 
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