Thread: Most Awesome Wife Ever!!!!!!

My birthday isn't till Wednesday, but my wife couldn't wait to give me my gift.
She got me my first set of hones. Its the Norton water stone 220/1000/4000/8000 kit with a flattening stone. Im so excited to start learning how to hone.

Sounds like you have a fantastic wife there mate, i would be over the moon as well if my gf bought me a norton's set

just remember to start practicing on a spare razor so you dont chance damaging your regular ones.

Okay, intervention time. Make sure the flattening stone is truly flat. Others can fill in the advice on that (mine was warped way beyond flattening its sillycon carbide with sandpaper on a flat surface). Also, make sure your hones are flat (mine apparently were). Also, give us the info on country of origin on the 4k/8k stone and be aware that some of the Norton 4,000s are notorious for having micro-holes that will fill in with swarf; the embedded swarf becomes lodged in the holes and then next time the delicate razor's edge runs into it... crunch! It's not so much a chip as a trench.

My combo stone was fine for the first real razor I honed on it. Then it "turned bad". Most other members whose 4,000s were bad.. they had worn off enough of the material to reveal good hone underneath. A nearby mentor used a beltsander to try to get rid of even more of the damned, cursed white Mexican crap. To no avail. So mine was the opposito, senor. Heh heh, heh heh, have more tequila, mane!

If your 4K exhibits any surface roughness or porosity I wouldn't get too worked up about it. My Norton is pre-Mexico production and frankly I don't think that country of origin is too significant. I lapped mine until I had a nice smooth surface which meant that about an eighth of an inch had to be removed.

Don't forget to slightly radius the long edges of the hones.

Congrats on a great gift.

Originally Posted by Bill S

If your 4K exhibits any surface roughness or porosity I wouldn't get too worked up about it. My Norton is pre-Mexico production and frankly I don't think that country of origin is too significant. I lapped mine until I had a nice smooth surface which meant that about an eighth of an inch had to be removed.

Don't forget to slightly radius the long edges of the hones.

Congrats on a great gift.

How do I do that to the edges? I don't have any other equipment.
Do I need to use the flattening stone to lap the hones before using them?

Originally Posted by salazch

How do I do that to the edges? I don't have any other equipment.
Do I need to use the flattening stone to lap the hones before using them?

To radius the edges I just rotate the stone onto its edge while moving it back and forth against the lapping plate/stone. All you are trying to do is relieve the edge slightly so it doesn't damage your razor as the blade passes over the edge of the stone.

You should lap all your stones before using them. Just search for "lapping" threads and you will have about a hundred times more info than you need. I wouldn't lap your 220 with the Norton lapping stone. The lapping stone is a finer grit than the 220 and things will probably work in reverse.

Originally Posted by Bill S

To radius the edges I just rotate the stone onto its edge while moving it back and forth against the lapping plate/stone. All you are trying to do is relieve the edge slightly so it doesn't damage your razor as the blade passes over the edge of the stone.

You should lap all your stones before using them. Just search for "lapping" threads and you will have about a hundred times more info than you need. I wouldn't lap your 220 with the Norton lapping stone. The lapping stone is a finer grit than the 220 and things will probably work in reverse.

I'll check it out, thanks.
Can the flattening stone be used to round the edges?

The flattening stone works fine to round the edges, as would sandpaper. I have used the sides or the back of the flattening stone to round over the edges of a hone to avoid uneven wear on the flattening surface itself.

Originally Posted by Bill S

The flattening stone works fine to round the edges, as would sandpaper. I have used the sides or the back of the flattening stone to round over the edges of a hone to avoid uneven wear on the flattening surface itself.

Is there a video or something that I can watch that shows how to do this?

Hey man, I just noticed that you're in SLC too. While I'm not the most experienced honer in the world, and have never used Nortons, I would be more than happy to help you out if you have any questions. Also, I have a DMT if your flattening stone doesn't do the trick rounding those edges. Good luck, and give your wife a high five, she deserves it.