Thread: Norton 1B8

Originally Posted by Bruce

If the stones you got work well on your razor(s), life is good.

I have a Wosty with no scales that I have been sanding on a bit. To keep from cutting myself, I ran the edge across a Pabst bottle. I set the bevel with the Norton's dark side, hit the orange side for a bit, and did about 150 laps or so on the Arkansas. Roughly 100 leather, 50 or so on denim and wet my cheek to make a pass. Seems to be closer than what I had been shaving with, with a bit less pulling. But, that was only about one square inch or so, I will have to work on a razor with scales and really give it a shot. If this pans out, I am going to be very pleased.

I will get some pics up soon.

I have to retract that statement. It pulls. It's sharp, but I need something finer to finish the edge. What I really need is to send off a blade to find out what "shave ready" really is. But I think that I will be able to utilize these stones in my honing progression. Not bad for $20, I guess...

I'd love to see some pictures of your actual hones, if you can take and post some. I'm not sure how much seeing pictures would help me identify/suggest how to use them, but it's always nice to see pictures, right?

Based on what others are saying, the Norton sounds similar in grit rating to a Norton 220/1k waterstone. I have a 220/1k waterstone (actually, I have two; a King and a Norton), but not your oilstone, so I cannot make a direct comparison. However, I have used some other oilstones and have found that they tend not to release their grit as quickly as equivalent waterstones I have used. This can be good or bad, depending on what you are honing. In general, I find that low grit waterstones release their grit too quickly, which causes the hones to dish and the loose grit to scratch the razor above the bevel and below the spine-wear band, so the idea of a hone that releases grit more slowly sounds good to me. However, if grit is released too slowly, it may get worn down before it is released, and your hone can stop cutting. Or it may cut too aggressively and really scratch or chip your razor (like DMT's sometimes do). But this won't really tell you anything about your particular oil stone - these are just some generalizations I have found based on my limited experiences. In short, you'll have to play with it a bit to see how it works. What does sound pretty certain is that it will be a low grit hone, and one side may be useful for setting bevels.

For your arkie, that other thread looks to have some information in it. Again, I have not used arkies much, but I know that others have used them on razors with great success. McWolf is the first guy that comes to my mind, and he can probably point you to others who are knowledgable about razors.

Whether or not your hones work on razors, I'd still say you won. You have new hones to play with, and you'll learn more about these particular hones (by using them), other hones (by comparing to these) and honing in general (because you are playing with hones). Furthermore, you can do so at a good price. Now it's just a question of how much time you want to devote to them.

Also, please do share your results with the rest of us. We have only each other to learn from, and all information is valuable.

Have fun!

Stones which you are showing in the pictures is not fine enough. Even there is Arkansas stones which you can use for final finishing purposes.
in your situation you are exactly right . Send your razor to someone make it shave ready and in future you will know how blade should be sharp enough.
gl

So, if I potentially added a stone between the Norton and the Arkansas, and added a stone after the Arkansas for final finishing before the strop could I be in good standing? What gaps do you guys think that I need to fill in order to have a logical progression from setting a bevel to a good edge? I am glad that I found this Norton, as it will allow me to salvage razors that have a bit of work to be done. I really have no preference as far as oil vs. water stones as of now, but is there any problem with having some stones in the process being oil stones and some being water stones? As long as the razor is cleaned between the oil and water stages, I would imagine that it would be fine, right?

first part of your question answer is yes you will be fine if you add 2 more stones.
But is that a good solution? Not really
you can buy norton 4/8 resolve almost all problems.
second part you are right . oil or water doesn't matter as long as you keep them cleaning .gl

So you are saying that I would be OK to go from the Arkansas to the 4/8, then to leather? Assuming that the bevel does not need any extensive work, that is.

Originally Posted by blockhead

So you are saying that I would be OK to go from the Arkansas to the 4/8, then to leather? Assuming that the bevel does not need any extensive work, that is.

if your bevel does not need any extensive work you will need only norton 4/8k +chrox which is costs 5.00 on classified. i think ChrisL is selling .
hope this helps

Like the other fellows said, the Norton Crystolon/Medium India would be good for bevel setting - that is, for initial sharpening. The Arkansas stone looks to be a "hard" white. If so you'd be able to get a quite acceptable edge with it. Follow it with a pasted or linen strop and then a leather strop, and you would have all you need to maintain your razor.

If you want to go for an ultra-smooth shave, then there are a host of really nice "finishing" hones that would be just the ticket. (Not to mention being a lot of fun to play with.)

Cheers,
Jeff