Thread: do new stone need to be lapped

I bought a new norton 4/8k and a chinese c12k.
do they come in good shape or do they need to be lapped when new?
Im new and I hate to try to lapp it when Im not sure what im doing.
I honed a old razor and the tip 1/4 is not quite as sharp as the other 3/4 of the blade.. but the 3/4 that is real sharp is great I just touch a hair on it and it is cut quick.
Thanks for all the help Im learning a lot from you all.

Most likely they will. If not when new not long after if you do a lot of honing so it is better to be safe than sorry. Here is a tutorial on lapping your waterstones.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Most likely they will. If not when new not long after if you do a lot of honing so it is better to be safe than sorry. Here is a tutorial on lapping your waterstones.

great as usually

Frequently, they are not flat when new. Also, some folks have claimed that the factory process for water stones may leave the surface material slightly off spec compared to that immediately below the surface. Then there is the possibility of glue from stamp labels etc. Also, the edges may not be chamfered. So lapping before first use is a good idea. Like the above posts say, you will be lapping the water stones routinely anyway.

I always do just to be sure they are flat.

I have lapped with stones out of the box and got great edges. I try it just to see if I can. Some guys are really anal about having perfectly flat hones, others are not.

Lapping your hone will eliminate one possible source of poor results, so it's a good idea to do it.

Just personal experience here but I just finished lapping my brand new Naniwas and I was suprised at how uneven they were. The 8000 had a hump in the middle, the 3000 was cupped and the 12000 was humped too. Lapping was pretty easy so I do recommend it.