Thread: Thoughts on this?

I've been looking into getting a hone, but Norton's seem hard to get here in the UK and are fairly expensive.

I came across this Grunwerg 3k/8k whetstone on eBay: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/110905021720?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p398 4.m1423.l2649

It is intended for kitchen knives, but would it be fine for honing a straight? Anyone else used it by any chance?

To be honest you can get here 400/8000 Norton for about £80. You need to answer yourself is it worth to be gambling? If you want to save money then go to Kings.

In all odds that will probably work.

However there won't be many if any guys here that have used that stone. So you have no real starting point for how fast or how slow it cuts.

If you don't mind having to experiment a little to find out how it works best then I say go for it.

Most of the hones we buy and talk about on here between 1k-8k are mostly made for knives. We are just a small niche market for them.

The Norton 4/8K is a known entity. Why for your first stone would you want to risk it? The Norton is 3" wide making it easy to learn for beginners. Again.... why?

Originally Posted by jbtusa

The Norton 4/8K is a known entity. Why for your first stone would you want to risk it? The Norton is 3" wide making it easy to learn for beginners. Again.... why?

I was just wondering if anyone has used it, I wasn't intending to buy without the thumbs up.

I'm just curious as it is the same material and grit as a Norton, and the quality of the lapping is down to the individual, so what makes a Norton nearly 40% more expensive?

Excuse the questions but I'm pretty new to all this!

What Stefan (Adrsprach) said. Why gamble?

You can get them cheaper in the UK, but Rutlands is fairly typical of the price - £79.95.

You might just as well argue that a mini and a rolls royce do the same thing so where's the percentage? Unless you have tried both yourself, you will never know.

Regards,
Neil

Originally Posted by Neil Miller

You might just as well argue that a mini and a rolls royce do the same thing so where's the percentage?

To me, the vast differences between a mini and a rolls royce are obvious.

Could you help me to understand the apparently large differences between these two hones?

I must be missing something

Thanks

I've never tried that hone, the grits are ok but since nobody knows how hard it is, it's a gamble.
I've got some nice 8K synthetics that are great for kitchen knives but useless for razors, so soft the razor will dig in and cut slices of it.
I don't think Grunwerg is the maker, it's probably some OEM Japanese stone.

Originally Posted by Bull

I'm just curious as it is the same material and grit as a Norton,

Are you sure of that ? I don't know for sure what the composition of the Norton 4/8 is. IIRC the 8 is some sort of natural material ? I do know that if you have the single grit instead of the combo Norton's instructions say you needn't soak the 8k. Of course they tell you to soak the 4k so they are definitely made of two different materials.

What is important to me about the Norton 4 is the binder. Some binders, polymer based for example, are not stable in atmospheric conditions. Humidity and temperature will cause movement however slight. You won't see it with the naked eye but it will require lapping before every honing session. Nortons do not suffer from this phenomenon. I think their binder is magnesia but I'm not sure.

I paid £66.24 for my Norton on Amazon.com.