Thread: Ice Bear Extra Wide Japanese Waterstone?

http://www.axminster.co.uk/product-I...tone-29755.htm

Is this a good stone, or is there no sub for a norton??

cheers

It's only available in 2 and 4k. I'd say get the Norton if you're serious about honing. You'll need it eventually.

cheers again firestart

I don't see many responses so Ill chime in with my 2 cents.

I have an Ice Bear 10k stone. I purchased it to fit between the norton 8k and whatever I finish with. It is a great stone, and it is a value in both size and quality. However...

I would compare it almost to the Norton 8k from a grit perspective...I can use either one with similar results...shavable...but I still prefer to finish on something finer.

The point is, based on my experience, if the scale of grit compares consistently (norton 8k = Ice Bear 10k), then 2k ice bear would likely be pretty rough for general use, and the 4k would not likely get you anywhere near shave status. Maybe they have other stones beyond these, but without an experienced user directing you to the proper grit, I would not depend on them to get the job done.

I currently have the following

Norton stones of different dimensions in the following grit:
220
1000
4000
8000

I have an ice bear 10,000 grit.

I also have a japanese 1000 and a japanese 6000 but they don´t cut as fast as the nortons

typically I´ll sharpen most ebay specials starting with the 4000 grit, then going to the 8000 and finishing up with 5 passes each side on the 10,000.

occasionally I´ve had to set the bevel on the 1000 grit and on even rarer occasions I´ve had to drop down to the 220. I got the 220 after a couple really tough razors that weren´t responding to 300 grit wet dry sand paper on a graphite base.

If you´re honing your own then the norton 4k/8k combo and a supply of wet dry sand paper should be more than sufficient.

If you´re honing for others you may eventually want a wider spread for the occasional pain in the bum, just to speed things up.