# Flattening a 120 grit shapstone whetstone



## andygraybeal (Jun 10, 2013)

Hey,
I got 120, 220, 320 grit Shaptone whetstones. What should I use to flatten it? I've worn out my very expensive (big mistake, shouldn't have bought, too expensive) Shapton glass stone lapper on it.

Is the Atoma 140 going to be okay?

Thank you,
Andy


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## Mrmnms (Jun 10, 2013)

Atoma 140 is fine. DMT XXC is cheaper, little more difficult to use but does a fine job for less $


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## ThEoRy (Jun 10, 2013)

Why do you have so many low grit stones?


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## Brad Gibson (Jun 10, 2013)

lus1:


ThEoRy said:


> Why do you have so many low grit stones?


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## NO ChoP! (Jun 10, 2013)

Why don't you use the 120 to lap the 220 and 320.


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## ThEoRy (Jun 10, 2013)

You could always lay down some low grit sandpaper on a piece of granite? But really, why do you have so many stones in that range? I can use a beston 500 or gesshin 400 to remove the scratches from my atoma 140 easily. No need for anything in between. Unless there's something I don't know about shaptons?


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## Mike9 (Jun 10, 2013)

That's a lot of dishing - how many knives are you sharpening?


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## andygraybeal (Jun 10, 2013)

Eh, I guess i went crazy on the low grit stones a while back. I never admit to know what i'm doing 

But yes, using Atoma / DMT XXC in place of the low grit stones makes the best of sense.


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## CompE (Jun 10, 2013)

Since you have 3 of these troublesome stones, have you thought about flattening them against each other? Work the 120 and 220 together a bit (not completely, just a bit), then the 220 and 320, then the 120 and 320, and repeat until all 3 are flat. Flattening 3 stones against each other in this way (mathematically at least) will leave all 3 dead flat.


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## tk59 (Jun 10, 2013)

Using anything but a sidewalk or a cinder block is ridiculous, IMO. Get 90% of the work done that way. Then rub the stones together, if you really want to. You don't need super flat stones for very coarse work.


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## andygraybeal (Jun 11, 2013)

rock on thanks!


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## panda (Jun 13, 2013)

i've definitely used the sidewalk before on a red brick, hahahaha you get weird looks but it does work, albiet takes FOREVER!!! get a cheap diamond plate. ive read people using drywall rasp.


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## TB_London (Jun 13, 2013)

Loose silicon carbide grit is cheap


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## Dave Martell (Jun 13, 2013)

TB_London said:


> Loose silicon carbide grit is cheap




When I need to flatten coarse stones or even medium ones that I've neglected into dishing (which is often) I use loose 80x SiC on a cinder block. You can't get much faster than that.


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## andygraybeal (Jun 13, 2013)

silicon carbide, interesting. looking it up now.


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## andygraybeal (Jun 13, 2013)

http://www.woodcentral.com/woodwork...tening-waterstones-with-silicon-carbide-grit/


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