Norton 220,1000 & 4000,8000.......

I just picked up my Norton water hone set along with a Norton flattening stone. So I set out to the garage to get a few razor in order. I never used this set before so I read the instructions, I soaked the stones for 10 mins and then took my first pass on the 1000 hone and to my disbelief the stone was terribly uneven and strangely gritty coarse. No where in the instructions did it mention the hones need to be flattend prior to use. Thank Goodness I picked up the flattening stone also, it took me an hour to get the stones flat and the 8000 was extremely stubborn. All in all, after the hones were flattend they did work well and I am pleased with the results.
A word to the wise for new Norton water hone owners flatten your hones prior to your first use. Has this happend to anyone else, did your new Norton water hones need flattening prior to your first use?

IME any hone I acquire is flattened before first use. I do it with a pencil grid in the kitchen sink with a bit of water running the swarf off as Josh Earl does in this tutorial here. The nortons are real good hones. The flattening stone is alright but don't flatten any barber hons or very hard stones with it or you will cause a lot of wear and it will need to be flattened. Glad to hear you're getting good results.

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Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

IME any hone I acquire is flattened before first use. I do it with a pencil grid in the kitchen sink with a bit of water running the swarf off as Josh Earl does in this tutorial here. The nortons are real good hones. The flattening stone is alright but don't flatten any barber hons or very hard stones with it or you will cause a lot of wear and it will need to be flattened. Glad to hear you're getting good results.

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what would you recommend for a good flattening stone?

The norton is a good flattening stone and will last a long time. If you want a bomb proof flattener a DMT D8C continuous plate is hard to beat.

Brando,

After a time, you may need to flatten the Norton flattening stone !

220 grit silicon carbide paper on a flat surface does the job well.

Have fun !

Best regards

Russ

+1 for the DMT's! I've got the 325 grit and its a great stone!

FYI, here's a link to the Norton waterstones page. Down at the bottom you will see the flattening stone.

Norton Professional Sharpening Solutions

Has anyone else gotten one (Norton) that was flat upon receipt? I did.
I ordered a 4000/8000 combo stone and it was flat when I got it. I have used it "as is" and have gotten good results, personally. I have flattened it since - after a few uses.

That brings up another question.
How long (or how many honings) can a typical NORTON whetstone do before it's time to use the flattening stone on those particular stones?

Thx in advance! :)

~Phil

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Originally Posted by PLanzaSr1957

That brings up another question.
How long (or how many honings) can a typical NORTON whetstone do before it's time to use the flattening stone on those particular stones?

Thx in advance! :)

~Phil

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Of course this will vary with how much it is used but IME the nortons go a good amount of time without the need to flatten. I don't need to flatten them every time I begin as I do with some other synthetics.