Thread: belgian stones or norton?

You can definitely get a shave ready blade from the Norton 4k/8k combo. I think why they [Norton 4/8] are popular with "honemiesters" is they save time setting a good bevel on a blade. You can do it with a variety of natural stones but in most cases it will take you a lot longer.
If you did the whole process with say a Belgian yellow, it would take a really long time, but in the end you'll have a well polished blade that would (we hope) provide you with a great shave.
Instead if you start out with the Norton and finish with the Belgian yellow, your yellow is going overwrite the striations cut into the blade by the Norton. In the end the blade will look/feel like it would have if you started off with a yellow, but you will have done it in much less time.