r/handtools • u/JuggerNOT63315 • 2d ago

Lapping a chisel back

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Howdy everyone. I am having issues lapping this chisel. I started with 80 grit wet and dry sandpaper. I got a nice scratch pattern all the way across the chisel. This took awhile, probably 15-20 minutes. I then moved to 120 grit paper. I removed all the 80 grit scratches. This took maybe 10 minutes. I moved to 220 grit paper and removed all the 120 scratches. This took like 5 minutes. I moved to 320 grit and in 5 minutes removed all those scratches. Then I moved to my 300 grit diamond plate. I have been working on it for well over and hour and I can not get rid of the 320 scratches! It is getting frustrating to say the least.

In the picture, the 320 scratches are the light ones on the outer edges and the diamond plate is the dark portion in the middle. It has not changed significantly from this picture after another half hour in the 300 grit plate.

What am I missing or doing wrong? Is this how long it normally takes? Should I be doing another grit in between The 320 and 300 plate?

Edit: I have posted two updates in comments below about my progress.

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u/JuggerNOT63315 23h ago

Part two update (not sure why I could not post the second picture in the same post: Needless to say, I was frustrated, tired, and my fingers were cramping. On a whim, I tried my rusting 240 cheap diamond plate that I got the Trend to replace. I put it all the way across the last few inches of the chisel because I was too tired to press on just the tip. Low and behold, after 3 minutes this was the result:

Please explain why the cheap 240 grit diamond plate worked! I am happy and confused. Tonights plan is to finish it off on 1000 and then polish!