Thread: Norton 4k feels grainier and rougher than Chosera 1k

For some reason, my Norton 4k (the 4k side of a 4k/8k combo stone) feels grainier and rougher than my Chosera 1k even after I've lapped it down considerably.

Is this normal?

When I do my progression of honing from the Chosera 1k to my Norton 4k, it feels like I'm "going down" in grit-level and not up...

You need to lap till you get past the top rough surface, then it will be good to go, may be you need to lap more?

Originally Posted by mainaman

You need to lap till you get past the top rough surface, then it will be good to go, may be you need to lap more?

My Norton 4k/8k is 1 inch in thickness. So that means 0.5 inches for the 4k side. I lapped about 1/16 of an inch off already from the 4k side. Do I need to lap down more? If so, by how much? Thanks!

Originally Posted by spacex

My Norton 4k/8k is 1 inch in thickness. So that means 0.5 inches for the 4k side. I lapped about 1/16 of an inch off already from the 4k side. Do I need to lap down more? If so, by how much? Thanks!

IIRC ~ 1/8" was to be removed, but really you should go till there is no grainy feeling when honing on it. If it does not go away after some lapping then you may have something else going on.

The Norton 4K is about 2.5K on the JIS scale, so it's never going to feel all that much finer than a Chosera 1K.

Originally Posted by Ecl

The Norton 4K is about 2.5K on the JIS scale, so it's never going to feel all that much finer than a Chosera 1K.

Is there a chart for the JIS scale and different stones?

Originally Posted by mainaman

You need to lap till you get past the top rough surface, then it will be good to go, may be you need to lap more?

You seem to have got your memory back, Stefan!

Humorously,
Neil

I just came across this thread this morning, and back in early March I had the same problem. My 4k/8k Norton had a rough spot on the 4k side. I lapped that son of a gun 50% of it's thickness and still could not remove the course spot. IT too was made in Mexico. One quick call to Amazon and I had an entire new set at my door just 14hrs later! The new set lapped up nicely after about 1/16th of an inch taken off.

Spacex

I have a 1K Norton, Chosera, Super Stone, King, a no name 1k Diamond plate and a DMT 1200. They all do the same thing and leave very similar edge, except the diamonds that cut a bit more aggressive edge that can lead to micro chipping.

I like the diamonds for re-shaping an edge post bread-knifing for chip removal, but do not bring the bevels to meeting. I leave a bit of flat edge and do the final setting with the Chosera.

I prefer the Chosera 1K for the feel on the stone, but the performance and quality of the bevel is the same on most synthetics. The progression from the 1K to a 3, 4 or 5 K is a fine progression and really any stone in that grit range will work, then an 8-12k. The closer the progression, the less time it takes on each stone.

Really almost any stone or abrasive, from bevel setting and middle grit polishing does not matter as far as final performance; with the exception that they determine how much time you will spend on each progression to remove stria from the previous stone. We can hone a razor on anything from Natural stones, sandpaper to abrasive pastes as long as a progression is used and/or enough time. You could set a bevel with a 12K, it would take some time, but you could not properly finish on a 1K.

I recently have been using a Chosera 1K, Norton 4/8K, Super stone 12K, 1um film and strop on Chrome Oxide and CBN .50 and .125. Yup… all over the map.

If using any progression to properly set and polish a bevel and edge as smooth as possible, the only one that matters is the finisher and/or technique… the driver.

Originally Posted by spacex

For some reason, my Norton 4k (the 4k side of a 4k/8k combo stone) feels grainier and rougher than my Chosera 1k even after I've lapped it down considerably.

Is this normal?

When I do my progression of honing from the Chosera 1k to my Norton 4k, it feels like I'm "going down" in grit-level and not up...

Well, it is for me.....normal. The Chosera 1k is a very smooth stone for a 1k. I think it's maybe the binder used in the hone. It seems more dense and maybe a little softer than the Norton 4k and 1k which both give a more gritty feel too me to. Also if you put moderate pressure on the Norton 4k and the Chosera 1k you'll get deeper striation from the 4k Norton than from the 1k Chosera. Whether it's the density/softness of the binder or not but that's been my experience.