Thread: Gritty Norton 4k stone

Hello all,

I have been struggling with my honing. I have a king 1k stone and a Norton 4/8k. A lot of the problem is my technique I am sure, but I am also starting to wonder if my hone is part of the issue. My Norton 4k side has an odd gritty feeling, even more abrasive feeling than the king 1k I have. I have lapped it many times, with both wet/dry paper and an DMT diamod plate. Is this normal for the Norton?

This has been brought up before. Yes, The Norton 4k will feel like it is 'grittier' than some lower grit stones. Difference is makeup of the hone, not the grit. Mine feels same. Great hone, BTW!

a thought i had was have you chamfered the edges of your hones? If you are lifting or lowering your razor on the strokes it is possible you are catching the edges occasionally. Just an idea.

The 4K side of my 4/8 Norton was gritty/rough until I lapped a substantial amount off.
And if I am recalling correctly this was not a surprise - as in: "expect to have to lap down 1/16" - 1/8" to get to the good stuff" was one of the cautions.
Once you get there the change is dramatic - you won't believe its the same hone.

And I'm with sharptonn - it is a great hone...

Originally Posted by MJC

The 4K side of my 4/8 Norton was gritty/rough until I lapped a substantial amount off.
And if I am recalling correctly this was not a surprise - as in: "expect to have to lap down 1/16" - 1/8" to get to the good stuff" was one of the cautions.
Once you get there the change is dramatic - you won't believe its the same hone.

And I'm with sharptonn - it is a great hone...

This was my experience. Get past all that grit and you will be very happy with the hone.

I'm glad I got a coticule.

Originally Posted by ShaveWares

I'm glad I got a coticule.

Different animal all together. I have one of those too, but I'll keep my norton, much faster for what it's designed to do.

I did take the edges off to prevent any problems catching the edge, I learned that the hard way I have lapped a good amount of the hone down, it lost the initial gritty feeling that were on both sides of the hone but still feels like it has some "graininess" on the 4k side only. I didn't mention this in my initial post, but the 8k side feels as smooth as glass.

Originally Posted by Ernie1980

I did take the edges off to prevent any problems catching the edge, I learned that the hard way I have lapped a good amount of the hone down, it lost the initial gritty feeling that were on both sides of the hone but still feels like it has some "graininess" on the 4k side only. I didn't mention this in my initial post, but the 8k side feels as smooth as glass.

Lap it some more, you won't be disappointed.

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