Thread: New Norton4k/8k-what next?

Hi everyone: I just received my new Norton 4k/8k stone and I thought I read somewhere in the Wiki that it needs to be preppped somehow before use. Is this true? If so, what do I do? Will this stone be adequate for a newbie to refresh his razors with? Thanks alot- I'm sure these questions have been asked of you before in this forum somewhere, hope I'm not trying anyones' patience.

Yes, that stone will suffice.
A lot of people use them, and when you get the skills required you will get good edges.
The prepping is known as lapping.
It basically means to flatten the stone.
A lot of people use a lapping plate of some sorts, but you can also use 325 wet and dry sandpaper.
If you use that, make sure the paper is fastened to a totally flat surface.
To know how much to remove when lapping, you just fraw a grit with a pencil on the stone.
When the grit is gone, the stone is flat.

I suggest you check out the wiki on this site, it has tons of info on all things related to honing.
It is really a cool place for gathering good info.
Good luck with your new stone, and congratulations

The 4k side has ~1/8" crust that needs to be lapped.
You can do that with DMT 325,k whet/dry sand paper on flat surface. You also need to lap the 8k side, because usually the stones out of the factory are not completely flat.

Originally Posted by gadwaymc

Hi everyone: I just received my new Norton 4k/8k stone and I thought I read somewhere in the Wiki that it needs to be preppped somehow before use. Is this true? If so, what do I do? Will this stone be adequate for a newbie to refresh his razors with? Thanks alot- I'm sure these questions have been asked of you before in this forum somewhere, hope I'm not trying anyones' patience.

Some do some not.
My Norton combo turned into a wonderful hone after the top
one mm (1/16") was worn away. Apparently the surface can
develop a rind that does not hone as smooth as the hone
is capable of.

Thus: One time and one time only many people recommend
lapping the hone aggressively before using.

I am not sure I recommend the aggressive path. I would
lap it flat and then use it. It will be just fine to start in most
all cases. Eventually it will wear this one mm or two and
be fine anyhow.

Do keep it lapped flat. Once flat you only need to lap
a thin layer at a time to keep it flat... about half the
thickness of a sheet of paper is all.

I agree with Tom,

My Norton combo was great after I gently lapped the top bit off of both sides. I really didn't do anything aggressive.

And yes, a great starting set. You'll be able to sharpen with the 4K, and polish with the 8K. Learning to polish correctly with the 8K to a comfortable shave will be a great skill to have in your pocket.

Originally Posted by gadwaymc

Hi everyone: I just received my new Norton 4k/8k stone and I thought I read somewhere in the Wiki that it needs to be preppped somehow before use. Is this true? If so, what do I do? Will this stone be adequate for a newbie to refresh his razors with? Thanks alot- I'm sure these questions have been asked of you before in this forum somewhere, hope I'm not trying anyones' patience.

You will need to lap the Norton stone in order to insure that it is flat. Norton makes a lapping plate/stone, but you can also use a DMT 125 diamond edge plate, I believe, to achieve the same result.

I believe that there is a video in the SRP wiki that provides detailed information about how to go about lapping a stone.

BTW...Don't bear down too hard when flattening your Norton. You just want to flatten the stone.

Good luck...

Thanks everyone: After posting, I went to the product reviews under "N" and saw the old review of the Norton by the banned member from 2008. It just about knocked me out of my socks(thought I'd made a bad investment)...by the time I got to the end of the replies I realized what had been going on, more or less; and felt much better. I'll have to pick up some 325 paper and go to work soon. Shouldn't need the stone for awhile. Have two razors and both have been professionally honed by their respective sellers-hopefully in a few months they'll just need touch up. It'll be all I'm capable of doing anyway.

Some quick clarification...

There were 3 different places making the Norton 4k hence the differences in advice on lapping...

The old ones were made in the USA and required just a quick flattening and you were fine...
Then there came the ones that were first made in Mexico and some of those required extensive lapping to get them right...
The latest ones seem to be made in Italy and they seem to be much better about getting ready to hone...

Some of the differences might have also been when Norton first started at the Mexico plant and perhaps that has been fixed now...

What I am saying is look, feel, hone,before you automatically lap away a ton of good stone yours might be fine with just a light lapping...

Actually, the biggest question mark on the Norton's has been on the 4K side. The 8K side did change colors from the original dark red to a tan color, but for the most part it has remained consistent with regard to feel and results. With the transition to Mexico, the 4K side developed a grainy feeling which after lapping from 1/16 to 1/8 off the stone would get back to the original feeling. This has remained pretty much the same and all you need to do is just enough lapping to get past that grainy feeling. I use the DMT 325 primarily for this although the GDLP works fine and a good sandpaper system will as well. Once you have that smooth feeling on the 4K side, you're good to go and the results have been the same reliable results as always. I am still wearing out a couple of the 4K sides of the combo yearly and feel this is still a very reliable stone

Have fun,

Lynn

My latest Norton has the 4K made in Italy & it lapped right up. Feels & works great! My 8K however did require a bit more lapping to get it to work. It felt OK, but razors didn't like it (not quite as sharp as an 8K can get & there were actual weird scratches on the bevel that looked like some type of embedded grit was doing it (?)). Now it works fine & feels pretty much exactly like the last one.

I think a few others had that problem also & fixed it w/ just a bit more lapping--probably something @ the factory got on a few of them is my guess. Again, it works fine now, so I wouldn't worry about it.