Thread: Norton Waterstone Starter Kit

I'm looking to buy the Norton Waterstone Starter Kit on Amazon.com for $135. I have been shaving with a straight razor for about 2 years now. I shave with a razor that I bought from Bob's Razors (whom I cannot speak highly enough of). I enjoy buying razors from eBay but so far do not have the means to get them shave ready. I'm wondering if the Norton kit will give me the equipment (not so much the skill) to do so. Would this be a good investment for someone looking to hone their skills (pun intended!) with straight razors? If so, I need to buy it while the money is in the bank! Oh, and I assume that this same kit will sharpen household kitchen knives and such? If so I might actually be able to justify the purchase to the wife...

Norton's are probably the single most used stone on this forum. They are not exclusive to razors so knives & tools should be no problem.

Imo..Nortons as Glenn said are a "love/hate" chance of liking em..I didn't like em and swaped for a DMT1200 Diamond Plate and combo coticule..one of those ymmv experiences...worth a shot to start with em..you may like em

There are all different stones and methods that you can choose but like has been said the Norton's are very widely used and you can get a lot of help using them. If the price tag is to much whippeddog sells a cut down version that looks like it will get the job done. But I would recommend getting the full size hones if you can swing it.

that set will get you from dull to shave ready just watch some vid's on youtube. i like the norton 8k but hate the norton 1k but its a good set for starters. when i strarted honing my own razors i put together a set of different name brand hones .

OK, I bought it. Divorce coming soon (unless I can sharpen the hell out of some kitchen knives...)

you will not be disappointed but im not sure about the truing stone i have not used mine yet not to sure if itl work

I don't think you'll be disappointed with your purchase. I did a bunch of research and question asking before making my first stone purchase, and I settled on the Nortons based on advice I received from several well respected honemeisters and haven't regretted the decision at all. The only thing I would recommend in addition to the Norton kit is a Dia-Sharp D8C (more commonly referred to as a DMT-325) for lapping the stones flat. The Norton flattening stone might do a good job once the stones are already flat, but it'll take forever to get the stones into workable condition without the D8C. The Nortons are very rough straight out of the box.

Originally Posted by spinsheet

I'm looking to buy the Norton Waterstone Starter Kit on Amazon.com for $135. I have been shaving with a straight razor for about 2 years now. I shave with a razor that I bought from Bob's Razors (whom I cannot speak highly enough of). I enjoy buying razors from eBay but so far do not have the means to get them shave ready. I'm wondering if the Norton kit will give me the equipment (not so much the skill) to do so. Would this be a good investment for someone looking to hone their skills (pun intended!) with straight razors? If so, I need to buy it while the money is in the bank! Oh, and I assume that this same kit will sharpen household kitchen knives and such? If so I might actually be able to justify the purchase to the wife...

i also buy my razors from bob keys. So you will no bob hones all his razors with nortons. has you have shaved with his razors you will no what the nortrons can produce in shavability.

gary

i understand that the norton flattening stone doesnt come flat, and must be flattened first. ive used a norton 4k/8k just a little bit, and its a great stone, does the job. the fact that they sell a flattening stone that doesnt come flat seems silly, but anyways. ive used a dmt8c to do rough work on blades with big chips, and i like that i dont need to lap it in the middle of use if i have to put alot of work in. i suppose i could get the heavy work done on a norton 220, and once the chip is out, lap the 220 again and reset the bevel one more time just to be sure the geometry was right. i know there are many members that must have the norton lapping stone, but i dont hear about it being used much.. more often i hear about the dmt8c or a coarser dmt plate, or sandpaper on glass, or loose lapping grit.

the 220/1k should be great for knives, and yes if you want to and can develop the skill you could sharpen your knives all the way up to 8k.. sometimes less is more with a knife edge it seems.. maybe others that sharpen knives can chime in here.
i recently sharpened a knife for a friend and went to very high grit, leaving a very smooth edge and i thought fine/keen edge. being so smooth combined with a lack of skill sharpening knives left a knife that didnt cut in the kitchen as well as the knife might have if the edge had been left with more tooth from a lower grit.

i know some chefs use VERY fine stones for some knives and some applications, but my impression is that with knife sharpening finer grit requires greater skill to get the most out of it.

i recommend the dmt8c, its quite usefull.. if you already have the norton lapping stone on the way, lap it with sand paper on glass and see how it works.. the norton hones will need to be lapped flat before use, and to get past the factory surface that is unsuitable for razors. the 8k for example should feel quite smooth once properly lapped, but feels rather rough as it comes from the factory.