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If these hones are so good and people pay so much money on e-bay for them why doesn't Norton make them. Surely Norton still has the recipe for these hones right ? :shrug:
RARE Antique Norton Combination Barbers Razor Axe Hone Sharpening Stone Box | eBay
That's an old vintage piece and the price reflects the rarity. Current production hones are way cheaper and they are good hones.
Do you know for sure Norton doesn't make them? They come from different countries but that doesn't mean they aren't made for them with their recipe.
That and the market is so small, how many would they sell to offset the cost of starting new production?
We have to remember, that we as razor honers are a very, very small part of the sharpening market and make do with stones designed for other markets, which is why so few stones work well with razors.
So how big is the racing ax market, yea even smaller? They too have probably switched to paste and sprays like many of us.
No! I don't know if Norton doesn't make them, but I have been to sites that sell Norton products and I haven't seen these hones. I assumed that these hones really did a job that the other hones could not do. :shrug: And I was thinking that the company might be missing out on some money by not reintroducing these hones. If they have not already and I just missed them some where.
They might ought to stock up on the paste and spray, because I just seen a commercial of the "new DR wood splitter". There not going to have to spray their axes much longer. :rofl2:Quote:
Originally Posted by Euclid440
They likely make something better. Full disclaimer, I've never ownd the vintage Norton barber hone, but I can't imagine there is nothing better today. Like Suehiro Gokumyo 15/20k, Shapton, etc. The one attribute vintage barber hones may have versus modern abrasives is that they seem to be very fast for their relatively fine grit.
Cheers, Steve
Steve thanks for you input. I don't own a Norton barber hone either, and there might be something better out there. I was just wondering if the Norton Company noticed what those little hone are selling for on e-bay. I don't know about cost either but I did not think it was something new for Norton. Make some poor minimum wage employee :deadhorse: go dig around in storage and get that mold that produces a hone that sells for $500.00. As for as demand I do not see a lot of corn cob pipes when I go to town but there is a company in Missouri that produces them. I believe there in business still. Mostly I would not mind seeing a line of products made here in a America again. Just a thought ! :beer1:
I cannot imagine this doing something modern synthetics cant do... For half that price. The selling point is rarity, that's it, the seller's target group are collectors, not honers.Quote:
Originally Posted by AlienEdge
I've read that those are great for quickly sharpening the edge on an axe. The Aussies who buy them are in pro, or semi pro axe competitions where they seem to think the cost of those vintage Nortons gives them the edge (no pun) to win.
One very experienced honer I know had one of those and claimed that with razors it was equal to an Escher. Shortly thereafter he listed it on ebay and cashed in. Whether one had anything to do with the other I don't know. :)
It’s all about the dollars, in the day Genco advertised making 6,000 razors a week, back in the day. That is just one razor company in the US, so thousands of razors were being made each day. Everybody used a straight razor, it was a huge market. It why they sell cartridge razors when even a double edge is a much better shaver, they make more money.
Is the Norton hone that much better, probably not, it is a lot of hype, just like stones today? And if they made them, could they get those prices today?
It is hard to compete with $10, lifetime supply of Chrome Oxide. The GS20 and Shapton 30 are nice stones, but really how many have they sold?
I’m sure Norton is doing just fine selling sandpaper.
I know guys have some old formulations and have looked at doing it, and even made bathroom prototypes, but I suspect there is just not a large enough market.
That ain't nothin' though ........... look what else he has ! A 12"x4" axe hone.
Huge RARE Antique Norton Combination Barbers Razor Axe Hone Original Wood Box | eBay
Says his grandfather was a salesman for Norton.
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Okay ! I wasn't wondering about the quality or how well it works. I was just thinking if papermate once produced a fountain pen that now sells for $500.00 on e-bay the company would reconsider making it again. :)
I want one so bad just not going to pay that much for one. It's a stupid way to lose money when there are better options available. No one can deny that.
Some companies, notably Harley Davidson, and Case XX pocket knives have responded to the collector's market in a big way. They've profited immensely from that policy. Also some of the firearms mfgs, like Colt, S&W, Winchester.Quote:
Originally Posted by AlienEdge
Other companies must feel they are making it alright with what they're doing, or they don't have the foresight of the ones that capitalize on that market. :shrug:
BTW. if I had the disposable income I'd jump on that big barber hone like a kangaroo. Unfortunately I don't. :boohoo:
What Jimmy said. If you're Norton, a Division of a global abrasives company Saint-Gobain, all you have to do is ask yourself how many would it take to saturate the market? Not many at $500 then you'd soon be competing with used Swatys.
Then as with razors, soaps, hones, strops, and everything else in wet shaving, there would be an immense movement to declare the new to be worse than the old....
If I were them I wouldn't do it.
Cheers, Steve
If they started making them again they would sell for a fraction of that price and the vintage ones would increase even more.Quote:
Originally Posted by AlienEdge
I saw that happen when Norton brought back the 'Lilly White Washita' for a short run. Guys on forums said the old ones were far superior. I don't know since I have an old one and didn't go for the new one.Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve56
Do you use the Lilly washita for a razor? Would have thought more for a tool..
No, not for razors, though I've read of guys who set a bevel with one. Never tried that myself when I've got a 1k chosera. I use the lilly white for pocket knives, follow up with a soft arkansas. Translucent hard ark, and black hard ark for finishing on some razors, sometimes, if I feel like that type of edge.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mikeinri
