Lapping Fluid

[adamcherubini]

Mark, I think Joel said Norton uses pressure (or vacuum) to force a Vaseline like substance into some stones. Or I’m dreaming. Forcing Vaseline in with a putty knife, or heating the stone, and then doing that all can work.

That said, given the choice between crystolon and diamonds, I’d chose diamonds.

Pretty sure baby oil is just mineral oil with scent added. It’s very possible it soaked into that coarse stone and allowed the swarf to clog the top layer. I’ve had success unclogging stone abrasively ( rubbing them on diamond plates). Then I just thought, why not just use the diamond plate and forget the “dressing stone”.

People have had fine stones for over 1000 years. The problem has always been coarse stones. Crystolon was a game changer when it was introduced. Every woodworker wanted or had one. Now I struggle with why anyone would use one.

[phreddy]

I've been using the Trend lap fluid on with my diamond plates.  No complaints, but...Seems like I've heard or read of a number of household liquids that make excellent "lapping fluids".  Two questions:
   1.  What do you guys use?
   2.  What should I avoid 

Krud Kutter. I swear by it. Readily available online and in home centers.

[MarkWells]

That said, given the choice between crystolon and diamonds, I’d chose diamonds.

I strongly considered getting a DMT Dia-Flat for grinding.  Instead I bought a roll of Mirka Gold 80 grit PSA abrasive and figured if I used it up quickly, I would buy the diamond stone.  I use this at the beginning of each sharpening on the primary bevel to make the secondary bevel smaller.  Sometimes I just use 2-3 strokes.  That roll lasted me several years and I just started the second roll, which I got as a gift.  This may mean either (a) I need to do more woodworking or (b) the paper actually lasts quite a while.  When I'm grinding like this, I use the Lie-Nielsen honing guide.  The only problem I have had is that the wheel of the honing guide gets chewed up and is now smaller than it used to be.

Anybody tried using a Dia-Flat for grinding like this?

Mark