Thread: Yet another honing question

Hi guys!

I have thought about getting into honing but what do i need for this?
The Norton 4k/8k seemes to be what most people use, but do I need anything else?
I was told by a seller on the perfect edge I need a flattening stone with it..do I need this?
Also, do I need a finer stone to use after the norton 8k?
And what is "setting the bevel"? I've heard it alot but never understod what it means.

Thank you!

Setting the bevel is the first step in honing, where you use a relatively coarse grit to make sure that the edge is perfect with no irregularities. This ensures that when you move up to higher grits that you are not polishing an edge that is not consistent - it would take forever to correct any chips with the 8k.

The Norton is a great start. Learning to hone will take a while, but you can get a shaveable edge from it. If you are honing ebay specials then you will probably need a lower grit stone to set the bevel first.
The norton will need flattening periodically and another stone is a good way to do this, although I made do with wet and dry paper on a mirror for a while.

I don't like shaving from the Norton but prefer to polish up to 12k and then on a pasted strop. Really it depends on what you like but I would say that most people here use some kind of finer stone - coticule, thuringen, escher, chinese 12k or shapton stones are good.

This is a thread you might wanna take a look at...
One thing you have to decide is what kinds of razors you are going to be honing, that does make a difference in the stones that you will need....


http://straightrazorpalace.com/works...torations.html

The bevel is the sharp edge where the two sides of the blade meet in a point.

The reason why Howard recommended a flattening stone is because the Norton stone is porous and if you flatten it with abrasive paper there is a high probabiliy of getting grit stuck in the stone that makes it impossible to use (you won't see it but you'll feel and hear it when the blade of the razor hits it). This happened to me the first time I lapped my Norton.

Another route to take is to get a Belgian blue and Coticule. Howard at The Perfect Edge has a 4X2 coticule that is very affordable. It looks like it would cost about the same as the Norton to get both and would provide you with a nice polishing stone.

Ok so basicly what I need is: Norton 4k/8k, flattening stone and finishing stone like the chinese 12k.

Do i need a "slurry stone"? And what is slurry by the way?

Originally Posted by Rawaz

Ok so basicly what I need is: Norton 4k/8k, flattening stone and finishing stone like the chinese 12k.

Do i need a "slurry stone"? And what is slurry by the way?

With a Norton set up, no you don't "Need" a Slurry stone but they do come in handy for keeping the stone cleaned up and ready to go...

Slurry is a mixture of the stone particles and water, that helps the stone to cut better and quicker it is more important with natural stones than with man-mades....

I highly recommend the DMT-8C for flattening your hone(s). However, sandpaper on a piece of thick glass works great too.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

With a Norton set up, no you don't "Need" a Slurry stone but they do come in handy for keeping the stone cleaned up and ready to go...

Slurry is a mixture of the stone particles and water, that helps the stone to cut better and quicker it is more important with natural stones than with man-mades....

Ok so I should get a slurry stone for the chinese 12k, coz thats a natural stone right?

Originally Posted by Rawaz

Ok so I should get a slurry stone for the chinese 12k, coz thats a natural stone right?

The purpose of slurry is to help the stone cut faster but it comes at the price of eventually rounding the edge...which is why most people now use a slurry to start and then finish with only water. If you just keep grinding away with slurry you will dull the edge rather than sharpen it.

I don't use slurry on my finishing stones.