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!

Originally Posted by AxelH

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!

The 4k side is from italy, the 8k side from USA

Originally Posted by salazch

The 4k side is from italy, the 8k side from USA

I don't really know if the country of origin matters at this point. I'm just cautioning you. If you're new to honing you may blame yourself first for something like swarf crunching badness. Come to think of it, Italy is a fantastically corrupt country, not unlike... Mexico! I'll buy another Norton 4k once they set up a factory in some war-torn, pirate-infested, roving bands of brain-washed child-armies strung out on ganja and gunpowder African country. I'm sure then they'll be fine. TMI?

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.