Thread: Newbie Tip: Norton lapping/honing/glazing

Originally Posted by Alexander

I'd definitely like to try one of the Shapton hones someday. Has anyone actually purchased the 30,000 grit stone? It's nearly $500! I figure I could put that money towards laser hair removal at that point.

Chris Moss has the 30k Shapton glassstone and gushes over it. Apparently Shapton USA no longer sells the professional 30k hone but still sells the glassstone version, which is much cheaper (< $300).

Edit: At this point I'm in danger of hijacking the thread, so further queries re Shapton can be directed to me via PM.

Originally Posted by mparker762

Same way you hone with it, otherwise the 4k side will suck water and grit into the pores of the hone and promptly clog it again. I usually lapped mine right before starting a honing session.

Might be part of the reason Bill Ellis uses a little rottenstone to start off a 4k session.

Very nice hijack though! If any newbies are dropping in MParker's comments on learning a new stone are very important to understand and accept. It seems to me every stone requires an important learning curve, particularly about the speed.

I would say that every stone requires a perfect stroke but the point is very valid, the faster the stone the worse it will react to an imperfect stroke.

I also lap my Norton wet and right before a honing session. The logic behind that seems too intuitive to ignore.

It's not really a hijack -- this is all very apropos to the subject. Someone might consider looking into the Shapton line of stones should the Norton prove troublesome. I personally like to know my alternative options.

Call me stupid, but I never realized that Shapton had both a Pro and a GlassStone series. $280 for a #30,000 stone seems far more reasonable -- with it being somewhat of a luxury item in the first place.

Some of the classic Barber hones came with a "rubbing" stone. This was used to removed the metal residue, "swarf", that resulted from honing. It was simply a coarser grit stone. The rationale of its use still applies today with most stones. They simply collect the debris of honing and that must be removed.
Then you will have better honing results.

I have pretty much stopped looking for the perfect hone. It simply does not exist. The 1200 grit diamond hones are simply to harsh on a razors edge. I use mine for lapping now. Instead I prefer to use 1000 grit sandpaper... but that is a last resort. I will try up to several hundred laps on a 4K first. The Norton can be a pain to keep unglazed and flat but when you do it performs very well. It is reliable and rather fast cutting.


Just rambling,

The Shapton Pro line and their Glass line behave differently also. I've heard that the glass stones don't like carbon steel much, as where the Pro line works very well with carbon steel. I've talked to many knife and "rock" nuts on this and I have always understood it to be true. So I'm slowly replacing all my stones with Shapton Pro's, as the old ones wear out.

Seems that most straights are carbon steels I would assume the Pro line would be the best choice. 30K stone is just not on my "Need" list so I'm going to pass on that

Originally Posted by DwarvenChef

The Shapton Pro line and their Glass line behave differently also. I've heard that the glass stones don't like carbon steel much, as where the Pro line works very well with carbon steel.

I've got a mix of glassstones and pro stones, and I haven't noticed this phenomenon

On razors I doubt there is enough steel removal to show effect. My experience is with kitchen knives, Lots of metal removed and all.

I would be interested seeing the stones after equil use with the same steel. I'll have to get with my group of knife knuts to see if there are a large number of these stones available for a side by side test.

The only other thing I'm not crazy about with the glass stones is how thin they are. I'd end up burning through them to fast to make the savings worth the effort.

If I were honing knives and chisels I'd be concerned about their thinness too. Fortunately razors don't seem to do much to them at all so the cost savings are a much bigger factor.

Originally Posted by mparker762

If I were honing knives and chisels I'd be concerned about their thinness too. Fortunately razors don't seem to do much to them at all so the cost savings are a much bigger factor.

Can't argue with you there, thats why I'm torn. I know I need stones for my razors and stones for my knives. But being broke I need to consentrate on the stones that I can multitask