Thread: belgian stones or norton?

thanks jr, i,m sorry but do you mean pick up a yellow coticule as well as or instead of a norton. thanks

Tony - Sorry, just to clarify...i meant the yellow coticule would be a good finishing stone to use between the norton and the strop. Lynn has a great DVD which demostrates his pyramid method on the norton, followed by 20 laps on the coticule to achieve a very sharp edge. There is really a lot of experimentation out there, but the norton is really all you need.

I'm sure others will chime in here, but most will concur that the norton is a great stone all-in-one for starting out and working on your technique.

I went the belgian route when I started and have come to love them. Thanks to LX_Emergency, Bruno, and now JoshEarl, there's a lot of support and expertise here for how to use them as working stones (many here use them only as finishers, but that's a different thing).

But I think there's something to be said for starting on a Norton; it's still sort of the standard.

I started out with the Jap stones just for the money sake. When talking with FireStart, he told me that if I bought them they take a bit more work on the razor, as they don't cut as well as the Norton Combo.

Once I bought the Norton Combo, I could use the Jap Stones (4K, 8K) for light finishing on the blades edge. This seems to work out very nicely. So, if you are strapped for cash, then the Jap stones will work just fine, though you need to modify the pyramid a bit. It will take a bit longer but give good results after you strop it as well.

Hope that helps.

I'm in the minority here, but I really didn't care for my norton...in fact it bordered on disliking it. I didn't like the combination aspect (which some people love) and found myelf wanting separate stones. I also didn't like that you have to soak it. Last but not least, the thing is huge. As I got better with honing i found myself wanting a narrower stone in the 6"x2" range. (again, another aspect some people like). I ended up returning my stone (the beauty of leevalley). In the lower grits (for honing out nicks and establishing a bevel) the norton would be fine and even recommended, but for finishing work i'd opt for the coticule

so they way i see it is i need a blue and yellow belgian norton from tokyo?

my lynn abrams dvd has just this minute arrived along with a little filly and a nice charge from those lovely people at customs and excise
so i,ll have a look at that soon might have a better idea when i see them in action

Originally Posted by edk442

I'm in the minority here, but I really didn't care for my norton...in fact it bordered on disliking it. I didn't like the combination aspect (which some people love) and found myelf wanting separate stones. I also didn't like that you have to soak it. Last but not least, the thing is huge. As I got better with honing i found myself wanting a narrower stone in the 6"x2" range. (again, another aspect some people like). I ended up returning my stone (the beauty of leevalley). In the lower grits (for honing out nicks and establishing a bevel) the norton would be fine and even recommended, but for finishing work i'd opt for the coticule

As a newbie, I'm not really enjoying the Norton either. The coticule "I get" and am having great results with it. I'm going to keep experimenting with the Nortons as I'm sure it's my technique. Given that the Norton is a workhorse stone, I figure that it's something I should really learn.

When doing pyramids, the flipping the stone and rewetting thing was annoying to me. I have a 1K/4K and 4K/8K. That way the 1K is available for bigger jobs, and then have both stones available to go back and forth between instead of flip flopping. This made pyramids faster and more convenient. Not that I reach for these stones much anymore.

I have gotten outstanding edges from the Norton 4K/8K combo - a few times. I have also gotten many good (but not outsanding) edges. Personally, not crazy for it, though. Can't remember when the Norton didn't work well enough, except for some Dorkos... Most other brands - the Norton worked OK but I still go to other finishers.

I myself prefer to use a Belgian natural for both *normal work* and as a finisher. In fact, my top finishers may be Eschers, but the Coticule is probably used just as much. Both get followed by Chromium. This gives me much smoother-feeling (vs. smooth-looking) edges than the 8K. I have also bought a Japanese stone which should work as high as a 40K synthetic stone but cannot say much because I need more time on it.

I have this quirk - I prefer natural stones to synthetics just as a principle. Same with brush and razor handles - horn, bone, ivory, wood always make me happier than synthetics.

Cheers
Ivo

EDIT: for a new convert to honing - the Norton is a great start as it's consistent. Belgians and other natural stones exhibit variations, etc. - but if you buy from a respected guy like Howard (ThePerfectEdge) - you are guaranteed to get top Select grade, and outstanding customer service. All in all - I think your choice to start with the Norton is the generally accepted wisdom on this site. Other hones can always follow it

tonyspurs,

The answer of Norton waterstones to all our questions both personal and scientific is semi adequate for me. When reading the various discussions about what stone to get for sharpening razors, I decided to follow the advice of most and ordered the Norton 220/1K and 4K/8K combos. Recently, I jumped into honing with both feet and took a old razor with a nasty nick and honed it down to where the nick disappeared and then worked up the grit path. I noticed that the appearance of the scratch pattern from both the well lapped 4K and 8K sides of my hone seemed identical through the Radio Shack hand held microscope. Only when I took the razor to my coticule stones could a see a reduction in the apparent scratch depth from the Norton stones. With a very light touch on the dry yellow coticule, I got a smooth appearing bevel - and one that shaved. The Nortons for me have not worked on finishing the edge. But I'm just starting in at this process and know not much of what I speak.

Bruce