Quote Originally Posted by jlarryc View Post
Hello. I’m new here and about two months into straight razor shaving. It was my new year’s resolution, and I decided to do a 100% plunge. I am now slowly learning the honing process. I purchased a new Norton 4000/8000. I’ve lapped and beveled it.

I’ve found that on the yellow, 8000 side there are approximately a dozen or more small holes scattered about. They are each about the size of a pinhole, but do vary slightly in size and shape. To the naked eye they might almost be mere spots/discolorations, but under a 16x loop they are holes, and with a 60x microscope they seem like rough-edged, gaping craters. I am assuming they are the remains of “air bubbles” during the manufacturing process. When honing, these seem to cause a clicking feeling as the blade passes over some of them. I’ve tried lapping through them (for as long as my patience would bear), but I either don’t remove enough material to eliminate them or as I go deeper I reveal new ones.

I’ve sent an e-mail inquiry to Norton Stones customer service but have not heard anything back. So, I am wondering:
1) are these holes a normal part of the manufacturing process, or is this stone flawed?
2) I would imagine the clicking sensation as the blade passes over may do more damage than good?
3) If I keep lapping and lapping patiently, will I eventually get “underneath” all of these? or is that futile?


Please note I see no such flaws on the white, 4000 side.

Thanks for your input or advice!

Jonathan
All depends on the manufacturing process.

I'm not sure how the Norton 8000 is made, but some grinding wheels/abrasives are made not by the traditional vitrification process (firing in a kiln), but by making either a latex based slurry or an oxychloride type (same chemical process as concrete) manufacture whereby the stones are air hardened and then cured. There could be other methods too, but these are the types I am aware of.

If the 8000 is made by either of those methods, those holes represent airbubbles hitting the surface.