Thread: My head is full of hones...help :)

It's not so much that the Nortons have been cut up, it's the dimensions of the thing once it's been done and the efficiency.

The Norton 4/8 is a large stone - arguably larger than you need for razors. However, quartering or even halving them has the effect of making things reciprocally more difficult (4 times harder, or twice as hard, respectively), especially for the beginner. An experienced honer could probably make reasonable use out of a cut down Norton, and in fact there are many more-complicated situations where people prefer a narrower hone.

But things are complicated enough for a new honer just trying to sort out the actual physical stroke on a well-behaved razor. Muscle memory gets developed in those early stages, and it is a lot easier developing a consistent stroke on an 8x3 hone than it is doing short strokes on a 4" one. Besides that, pretty much all the advice here regarding beginning honing has developed assuming a full-size hone so things can get complicated trying to scale that advice down.

On top of that, it's a false economy. Are you in fact paying a quarter of the full norton price for a quarter norton? It all gets muddled up because there are other hones included in the deal, and I'm not saying whippeddog shouldn't be allowed to make a profit, but on a per gram basis you are actually paying a lot more for these cut down hones.

In the end it is your choice of course, and your money. If you can afford it I'd suggest the full size hones. But I realise it is about the absolute magnitude of cost, not the per gram cost. But also realise that honing your razors is a lifetime investment, not a one-off thing. So whatever you buy now will last you a long long time in the normal run of events. Viewed from a lifetime perspective, an extra 50 bucks is money well spent IMO.

James.