Thread: Norton Razor Hone

Originally Posted by Maladroit

Could you explain what you mean?

Sorry was typing on a mobile at the time. I meant the Gokumyo 20k.

I should clarify I'm not insulting the testers findings, instead I'm only pointing out that posts about the stone raise the desirability of the stone as well and with such the price. I'm not saying it does or does not work well simply because I've never personally used it. Frankly there is no measurable way to compare stones outside of subjective opinions of those using them. Many folks feel the Escher (thuringian) hones provide the best shave while others will swear by a maxed out JNAT that some claim can get edges in the 30k range. Unfortunately there is no way to measure this.

I personally doubt a stone that is man made from 1905 could provide edges equal to that of a stone manufactured today. It may very well polish the blade but a mirror finish on an edge doesn't always equal quality shaves. I don't think looking down a microscope to look at an edge tells the whole story. One would think that if the stone was of such high quality that it would be in mass availability and have it's popularity at the time through the roof. The Swaty sure was.


I never insinuated that he purposely did a positive review to raise the price. I'm simply saying that people will read that review and it will by effect drive the price up. Many factors go into quality honing besides simply pushing the edge to mirror finish. Frankly i think the person honing has more effect on the shave than the stone itself. Some people can push excellent edges from Coticules that people will swear by. Again it's all subjective.

Thanks scag, sometimes those predictive text options on mobiles give really strange results

I agree with your arguments re the Norton v modern stones - see my post #4 above. Also, as you point out, the "legendary" barber hones like the Frictionite and the Swaty, were excellent in their time but in the light of modern developments in abrasives they may no longer represent the pinnacle of synthetic hone technology. I also agree with your comments regarding the ability of the honer being sometimes as important as the hone itself. I've never got a shaving edge off a Coticule but have no trouble producing decent edges with a Norton 4/8 and Shapton 12k sequence.

The price of the little Norton is still probably governed by demand from the the axe guys. I find it hard to imagine many straight razor honers would be willing to shell out more than twice the value of a Gok 20 for what is actually a rather undersized and inconvenient hone. They're good but they're not that good; i.e. the value of a full set of hones, up to and including the Gokumyo 20k. One of my fellow Aussie SR users suggested I sell mine and buy some decent hones I just might do that one of these days.