Thread: Please Lynn

Hi there,
I need to ask you guys something. I recently bought a Norton Water Stone 220/1000, a 4000/8000, a Norton Flattening Stone and a Norton Prep Stone for Water Stone.
I want to know if I need to do anything with then before using. Is there any special preparation procedure?
How do I use this Prep Stone and in which stone should I use it?
Just one more thing, I still have no strop and I want to buy my first one. I would appreciate if you guys could recomend any. Considering I'm a brazilian it's kinda expensive so I want to buy a good one that I can use for a long time.

Thanks.
Alexandre Kerger

Well lets see. Prep stone...not too many people here use one on the norton, mostly because it's just not necessary, but if you want to experiement with it since you have it it'd probably do the most good on the 4000 grit stone. Let the 4000/8000 stone soak in water for 10 minutes then lightly rub the prep stone over the surface to form a slurry (back and forth, little circles, figure 8...it doesn't really matter how) you can experiment with the thickness of the slurry too. Try seeing how lots of slurry performs, how light slurry performs and decided where you can fit it into a honing routine

the 220/1000 might not be immediatly useful to you. the 1000 grit side could be used to hone out nicks and chips. the 220...i've never used something that coarse and don't think i ever will. I'd shy away from a razor that needed THAT much work.

Before flattening stones, use a pencil to draw a grid on the stone to be flattened. Soak both stones for a few minutes before starting. To use the flattening stone, hold it in one hand and the stone to be flattened in the other. Rub the side with the grooves against the stonned to be flattened, uisng a back and forth or figure 8 motion using nice even pressure. The stone is flat when the pencil grid wears away evenly (You might do this a few times)

For strops, you will find no better strops for a better value than those from Tony Miller at www.thewellshavedgentleman.com. Send him an email and he'll help you find what you need.

Make sure the stones are properly flattened before using them.
Do this by drawing a grid in pencil, and then rub them with the flattening stone under running water until the grid is gone.
wash the m off under running water while rubbing with your hand to make sure all grit from the flattening stone is gone.

if your razor is in OK condition, forget about the 220/1000 grit stone because they'll likely do more bad than good if you are new to honing.

For strops, the best strops IMO are those from Tony Miller. Tony is a senior member here and respected by all for his craftsmanship.
his site is www.thewellshavedgentleman.com

Originally Posted by edk442

Well lets see. Prep stone...not too many people here use one on the norton, mostly because it's just not necessary, but if you want to experiement with it since you have it it'd probably do the most good on the 4000 grit stone. Let the 4000/8000 stone soak in water for 10 minutes then lightly rub the prep stone over the surface to form a slurry (back and forth, little circles, figure 8...it doesn't really matter how) you can experiment with the thickness of the slurry too. Try seeing how lots of slurry performs, how light slurry performs and decided where you can fit it into a honing routine

the 220/1000 might not be immediatly useful to you. the 1000 grit side could be used to hone out nicks and chips. the 220...i've never used something that coarse and don't think i ever will. I'd shy away from a razor that needed THAT much work.

Before flattening stones, use a pencil to draw a grid on the stone to be flattened. Soak both stones for a few minutes before starting. To use the flattening stone, hold it in one hand and the stone to be flattened in the other. Rub the side with the grooves against the stonned to be flattened, uisng a back and forth or figure 8 motion using nice even pressure. The stone is flat when the pencil grid wears away evenly (You might do this a few times)

For strops, you will find no better strops for a better value than those from Tony Miller at www.thewellshavedgentleman.com. Send him an email and he'll help you find what you need.

We posted at almost the same time, saying exactly the same thing. Creepy.

Originally Posted by Bruno

We posted at almost the same time, saying exactly the same thing. Creepy.

I think that officially makes the advice "conventional wisdom."

I also would recommend Tony Millers strops. get the 3" wide one though you won't be sorry.

One more vote for Tony's strops- you won't be disappointed!

On the Norton stone.....You can always lay the flattening stone against it when new to make sure it's totally flat. Usually is. If not, lap the stone. If OK, commence honing. On a new stone, you will have a little more accumulation of metal, so lapping will be done more frequently. I actually like to use the flattening stone after every use, but I am usually honing 10-12 razors at a time.

On the strop, Tony's strops are a great choice. My preference is the 2 1/2 inch.

Have fun.

Lynn