Lapping Film = Wasted Time:

Well I tried it and after doing the arm hair test, I can offically say that it was a waste of time and money with 3M's lapping film. At first I thought it would be great and I did approach it with an open mind. After all I did buy it and I use what I buy. Whether it works or not is an entirely different story. So lets get started.

Step #1: Kill the edge:

The very first thing I did was completely kill the edge to where it wouldn't shave anything all:

Step #2: Cut lapping film:

The lowest my kit went in terms of grit was 1800 grit at 9 microns which is the blue sheet you see below and I never got past this particular color. The lowest grit you can get in 3M's lapping film is the yellow which is 1,200 grit which I thought would be great for setting bevels. If you don't set the bevel, you have NOTHING. That is the meat and potatoes of honing PERIOD. Once you set a bevel, you should be able to shave off it. If you can't then the bevel is NOT set:

Step #3: spray surface with water:

When using lapping film, you can use any flat and smooth surface you wish which includes honing stones. So since I have nothing but a Norton 4/8K combo stone, I decided to use it:

Step #4: Remove adhesive backing and apply:

Basically what you do is remove the adhesive backing of the lapping film and apply it to your surface smooth side down. This keeps the film in place which while honing so you don't ruin your edge:

Step #5: Flatten lapping film:

using your straight razor, perform 1 round trip using a stropping motion. Your razor will act like a window squeegee and flatten the film and it also removes the air bubbles which supposedly can ruin your edge:

Step #6: Begin Honing:

This was as far as I got. My kit only went as low as 1,800 grit which I thought would be great for setting a bevel and I got zero results after using my tried and true method. Like I said earlier, if you can't shave off of a bevel you just set then you've wasted your time because you MUST set the bevel. There's NO other way around this. Now below is the progression they list on the 3M lapping film along with the micro listings:

Yellow = 1,200 grit at 12 microns

Blue = 1,800 grit at 9 microns

Brown = 4,000 grit at 5 microns

Pink = 8,000 grit at 3 mircons

Green = 14,000 grit at 1 micron

White = 50,000 grit at .1 microns

^ That's what their chart says on their website, but I got nothing on the blade after shaving my forearm with it after using the same method that I've been using since my Norton 4/8K combo stone arrived and I've had that stone for several months now easy so I know it was NOT due to user error period. There's no way it could be. So after seeing the lack of results, I can call this method a waste of time and money because quite frankly what paid for this film, I could've bought a Norton 1K stone for setting bevels.