Thread: Finish hone after flattening?

Originally Posted by Marshal

I would suggest you PM Jnats. He'll be able to guide you in how to prep your stone. As his name implies, they're his niche.

Edit: You're right around the corner from me! That's awesome. Howdy neighbor! lol

That's a good idea, I'll do that! Are you also in the Hampton Roads area?

Yep, I'm in Virginia Beach

As far as JNats go, if you want the best edges your stone can produce, you should smooth it with a tomo nagura after flattening it with the diamond plate. It doesn't make a huge difference to the look of the bevel but will yield a bit more comfortable shave in my experience. I like to progress from bevel set to diamond plate generated slurry on JNat (also flattens the stone at the same time) then hone through 2 or 3 slurries generated with a tomo nagura. This gives really great edges.

+1 on the DMT, thats what I use on my Norton's (I have the Norton lapping stone and it does leave the hones a little bit rough but flat.
Mine are the Nortons from Mexico, I have the 1k 4K and 8k, but the 8k is the only one I really use as I have others I prefer on the lower grits.

Wet and dry sand paper 400grit and higher is also an option

I tried my best to get a good picture, but you can't tell anything about the razor from my picture. I lapped the plates with some wet/dry sandpaper, much better result. I have my smooth edge back. I believe you are right about the embedded grit. I'll be getting a diamond plate soon. Thanks for the info. I also believe I overhoned some, after reading the science of sharp. I re-honed the edge and have no visible roughness now.

I found the old thread I started about the old and new Norton 4k hones HERE. It will give you a sense of how different the two are.

Thanks for all the suggestions - I have the stone sorted now. After lapping with the DMT 325, I progressed with wet or dry sandpaper up through 1500 grit, then polished the surface with the Belgian blue side of my 'La Veinette' coticule, and finished with the Tomo as suggested. The Belgian blue was the missing element, doing a great job of bridging the gap between the 1500 wet or dry and the Tomo.

Originally Posted by robellison01

When you say the surfaces are rough and gritty, is it just one or all? Are you talking about appearance, or feel?

Reason I ask, is my Norton 4K took quite a bit of lapping before it lost the gritty feel. The 8K has noticeable scratches by appearance, but feels smooth as silk. These are both flattened with the Norton flattening stone.

edit: The flattening stone needs to be flattened too. I used a piece of marble tile and 80 grit emery cloth.

Doesn't that make you question the reason for existence of the norton flattening stone?? I mean a flattening stone that needs flattening...

Just because the product is shipped rough-cast from the factory doesn't mean there isn't a purpose for it. I never trust anything as being true until I've verified it myself, especially honing surfaces. Even the ubiquitous DMT diamond plates should be checked before being used to true up hones. Also, they need to be worked in with steel in order to knock down any high points and clear any loose diamonds to prevent damage to your hones. Does this negate their reason for existence?

Originally Posted by sqzbxr

Just because the product is shipped rough-cast from the factory doesn't mean there isn't a purpose for it. I never trust anything as being true until I've verified it myself, especially honing surfaces. Even the ubiquitous DMT diamond plates should be checked before being used to true up hones. Also, they need to be worked in with steel in order to knock down any high points and clear any loose diamonds to prevent damage to your hones. Does this negate their reason for existence?

If you can't actually flatten anything with them, yes, then I think they have no use.

I worked my dmt with a flat engaving knife today, and it seems to have worked.