Thread: norton 4000/8000 wetstone

Originally Posted by saladbar2000

Thanx for all the info everybody. I did buy the flattening stone as well. How often should I use the flattening stone and is it necessary to use it on both sides? It was mentioned the 4k side doesn't erode as quickly

The 8K side is very stable but not the 4k side. If all your doing is razors, the 4k side will not wear that much. If you put a chef knife to it that will change.

Anyone else have the white 4k norton?

As far as how often to flatten. that would depend on a few factors, like how much you use the stone, how hard you press the blade, and stroke repetition. Yes you should flatten both sides at the same time, that way you know they are both flat if one side is flat.

One of my cleavers is RC63, and it grinds deeply into the 4k to a point that I don't even touch that knife to it any longer.

Originally Posted by DwarvenChef

I don't do alot of asian dishes at the moment so this is speculation...

Cornstarch is the primary thickener in these soups. Geletin will disintegrate at the boiling point, not all at once but rapidly the longer it stays that hot. With the cornstarch you need to bring it up to a boil to activate it, it will thicken noticably at a rolling boil.

The red color alot of times is from the hot chile oils used in these dishes. Food coloring tends to show up at some places as well.

I just bought hot chile sauce, and it does have the right color. While it is not Chile oil, I hope it'll do.
Now I only have to get corn starch and I can make a nice bowl of soup.

I'll ket you know how it went.
Thanks Master Dwarf.

Sorry for the everybody.

would I need a norton 220/1000 for kitchen knives?

It depends how blunt you let them get.
I usually don't go below US grit 600 and that's with very blunt, to me, knives unless I'm changing the angle or grind.

Originally Posted by saladbar2000

would I need a norton 220/1000 for kitchen knives?

That would depend on a few factors.
Use frequency, steel type, your expectations for an edge.

Depending on how often you use your blades and what care you give them, will errode at the edge. Making them dull.

Softer steels RC56-59 loose their edge very fast, 1-2 hours cutting. While harder steels RC60-64 tend to hold the edge a lot longer, but have other issues. Those issues are brittle edges. Soft steel will roll or just wear away, harder steel still wears away but much slower and then there are the chips.

Depending on what you expectations of sharp are will depend on wether you really need these 2 stones.

One thing with 220's in general, they wear out fast. I passed on the 220 stone and got a pair of DMT diamond plates in extra coarse and coarse (D8XX & D8C). They don't wear out the same way and last a frigging long time.

What kind of kitchen knives do you have? What is your usage like?

The 220 stone is more for fixing big chips, moving bevels, and removing lots of material. Like a broken tip or such. The DMT is much better at that I feel.

So I think what I'm hearing is I'm not going to need a 220 unless I'm breaking stuff and a 1000 unless I'm neglecting my blades. The knives I have are garbage and I was planning on buying some knives that were worth a damn. I'm not a professional chef but was trying to learn the skills to become a decent at home. I really like the henckels twin pro S and I don't think I'll need more the 4k/8k I already have if they are new right?