Thread: Gritty Norton 4k stone

Originally Posted by Substance

the 4k side of my Norton still feels grainy also compared to the Nani 1k, even after some 40 razor honings & maybe 15-20 lappings over the last year odd
it is water hungry compared to the rest of my hones also as the only hone I have that bubbles when first submerged in the tub

There is a much smoother surface below...just waiting for you to mine (lap) down to it..
I remember my stainless steel sink looked like I had dropped a bucket of white paint in it by the time it was over.

I have a problem with the Norton 4k too.
Many times the arm hair shave test was worse after using the 4k.
As a test, I honed just one side of the razor on 4k and looked at the scratch pattern. The 4k side had a much coarser scratch pattern than the 3k side. I lost ground.
The stone has been lapped down 3/16". I could go more; nothing to loose.

I had two of them. First one dulled the bevel I had set on a Norton 1k. This after I had lapped away HALF of the stone without finding anything smooth. I talked to the product engineer at Norton. He said I clearly had a bad one and to return it to the seller as defective. Sent it back to Amazon in exchange for a new one. Lapped away 1/8" of the 4k on it and repeated the dulling of the bevel. Sent it back to Amazon for a refund. Both stones were the 4k/8k combination stones and both had the 4k side produced in Italy. I suggest you take the Norton engineer's advice and send it back. I then bought Naniwa 5k and 8k stones, which are excellent.

I lapped it down another 1/8 inch or so, and it is getting no better. I am toying with returning it, I am going to go down another 1/8in or so and then back to the store it goes!

I pulled my out this evening and the plastic box says: 4000grit made in Italy - 8000grit made in USA
Sorry now that I did not measure it before to get some idea of how much I removed.

Ohhhtay! American, Mexican, and now Italian Norton 4/8's.
Wot's the difference. Some seem disillusioned. Should not be, Norton 4k is notorious for sound and feedback in the beginning, should quieten down as the scratches from the 1k are smoothed. Mine is an old USA made. Are the later ones inferior?
Thoughts?

I have a 4k/8k that's about 6 months old now. 4k side is from Italy, 8k from USA. After cleaning off about 1/16" off of it when I got it, it works just like my older ones that were made in the USA. I've never had any problems with Norton hones, so I hope they get this issue figured out.

Why is it an issue? Sound? Sensation? Performance? I would like to hear. My old 4k is much more audible than my 1k Naniwa.
Still, a 4k through lot's of razors. JMO.

For me it was the sound it made, and the odd scratch pattern on the stone. I can actually see the individual grains after running the blade a couple of times across.

Originally Posted by Ernie1980

For me it was the sound it made, and the odd scratch pattern on the stone. I can actually see the individual grains after running the blade a couple of times across.

Curious. What hone proceeded this Norton 4k? Scratch patterns should be present at this level, nevermind the stone.