Thread: Tips on cleaning Nortons

I was lapping/refreshing/cleaning my Norton 1k after beveling a bunch of razors, and I found that even after lapping the surface, there was still some blackness left in the hone. I tried rubbing it with my fingers, cause that often helps, but no dice. I was going to grab a brush and start scrubbing, but I thought I'd try out the sprayer-thing first (this was my first time lapping in my kitchen sink). The sprayer did the trick. Hitting the Norton with that high pressure water took the blackness away. Now, I'm not sure if the black stuff was driven out of the hone and down the drain or deeper into the hone, but I'm guessing it came out.

So give it a try - shoot your Norton with a jet of water next time you're trying to clean it up; it just might work. And try shooting it before you lap - removing swarf first can only be good, right?

I find a scotch brite pad will usually take off any stubborn residue on any hone really.

+1 to the scotch brite pad, they work wonders

You prefer soap or Comet w/ those? I've tried both on my DMTs, but not Nortons yet (picking mine (4/8) up tomorrow, it looks like).

I was getting ready to start a new thread, but I will just add it here since along the same line. Concerning the Norton 4K, how do I know when iy needs to be lapped. T stone looks and feels to be pretty flat still, but the surface is very dirty and I am not sure if its cutting as well as it should. I did not want to dress too soon and prematurely wear out the stone.

Thanks Chris.

Originally Posted by knifenutnky

I was getting ready to start a new thread, but I will just add it here since along the same line. Concerning the Norton 4K, how do I know when iy needs to be lapped. T stone looks and feels to be pretty flat still, but the surface is very dirty and I am not sure if its cutting as well as it should. I did not want to dress too soon and prematurely wear out the stone.

Thanks Chris.

Lapping will remove dirtyness, but so will the methods above. The only real way to know if it needs to be lapped (that i know of) is to make a pencil grid, give it a few passes, and see if it's flat.

Originally Posted by knifenutnky

I was getting ready to start a new thread, but I will just add it here since along the same line. Concerning the Norton 4K, how do I know when iy needs to be lapped. T stone looks and feels to be pretty flat still, but the surface is very dirty and I am not sure if its cutting as well as it should. I did not want to dress too soon and prematurely wear out the stone.

Thanks Chris.

You can lay a straight edge across the surface of the hone to see if it needs to be lapped.

Originally Posted by radaddict

You can lay a straight edge across the surface of the hone to see if it needs to be lapped.

Been there an done that with a $52.00 pro machinist's Starratt straight edge and it ain't as good as doing the pencil grid.

Regarding black stuff still on the norton after lapping ..... I had that experience and couldn't figure out what was going on. Turned out it was nickel coming off of my DMT 1200 plate. I found out in time (before I ruined it) that I shouldn't lap it with any DMT finer than the 325 and that under running water.

Originally Posted by radaddict

You can lay a straight edge across the surface of the hone to see if it needs to be lapped.

Don't do this please most used razor's edge isn't straight ether. you will get a lot false + results.
hope this helps

Originally Posted by hi_bud_gl

Don't do this please most used razor's edge isn't straight ether. you will get a lot false + results.
hope this helps

Sham, I'm pretty sure he's referring to a straight edge (a reference that is straight), not a straight razor's edge.