Shapton Kuromaku Naoru Cast Iron Lapping System - EOFY Special

Shapton Kuromaku Naoru Cast Iron Lapping System: $200 (20% off $250)

Flatten and re-true your sharpening stones with the Shapton Kuromaku Naoru cast iron lapping plate.

Regular price: $250. EOFY price: $200, a 20% saving. You save $50.

A sharpening stone only does its job when its surface is dead flat. With use, stones dish and wear unevenly, and that shows up in your edges. The Naoru cast iron plate, used with Shapton correction powders, brings a worn or hollowed stone back to a true, even surface so it's ready to sharpen again. It works on Shapton stones and other waterstones alike.

How to Use It:

1. Soak the stones you plan to lap in water for 2 to 3 minutes first. With non-Shapton stones, make sure they take up plenty of water before you start.
2. As a guide, pencil a grid across the face of the stone you want to flatten. It shows you where the plate has made contact as you work.
3. Set the Naoru plate on a stable surface. Wet the whole plate so the water permeates it, but don't leave standing water on top, or the powder can wash away.
4. Sprinkle a little powder onto three or four spots on the plate, then rub it across gently with a stone in a circular motion so it spreads evenly.
5. Place the uneven face of the stone on the plate and slide it back and forth, then diagonally back and forth, using the whole plate. If it starts to feel sticky, add a little water. If it feels too smooth or slippery, add a little more powder. Get that balance right and you'll work effectively without wasting powder. Where your pencil lines rub away, the plate has made contact, which is where flattening has happened.
6. When you're done, wash the plate clean and let it dry. A little surface rust during storage is normal and won't affect performance.

Types of Powder

The quality of the finish you obtain on the sharpening stone surface will vary depending on the type of powder used, so be sure you choose the right powder for the particular stone you will be lapping.

• For sharpening stones of 40 microns or above (320 or below), use coarse powder.
• For stones of 4 to 30 microns (500 to 3000), you can use coarse powder initially if the stone is quite uneven, to scrape it roughly, but then use medium powder to relap it. Normally only medium powder is needed.
• For stones of less than 4 microns (4000 and above), you can use medium powder initially if the stone is quite uneven, to scrape it, but then use fine powder to relap it. Normally only fine powder is needed.

* Be sure to wash the plate and sharpening stone well each time you change to a different type of powder.
* If you apply a rough finish to the surface of a sharpening stone of less than 4 microns (4000 or above), you will not be able to harness the stone's full potential, and will be unable to give your blades their intended finish.
Always lap such a stone with a fine powder at the end, to produce a mirror-like finish, before you start sharpening.
* Fine powders are sold separately.

Powders are available here.