Thread: Scratch pattern off Norton 8k seems too rough

Yes, look at the edge. It’s not your camera it is light reflecting where the plane is not flat, because it was not honed to the edge.

Take a pic of the edge.

Originally Posted by jag213

I am still not convinced my 8k is fine though. Here are more pictures of me rubbing my knife on it with noticeable visible scratches being seen in the after photos

I am also getting these small dot-like metal concentration spots on the stone which can't be rubbed off without lapping it.

This with light pressure ?

Again, the heavy stria on the Mora are grinding marks, you need to set the bevel on the mora.

You need to re-lap your stone. What are you lapping with?

Where are you located? Might be someone close who has some experience that may be able to help figure out what’s going on.

Does that line go away after a quick stropping? Marty’s comment on trying that then inspecting the bevel and edge helps get rid of any artifacts that may give you false information about how the edge is developing. Really what it comes down to is what the shave is like. If you feel any irritation not related to using too much pressure or crappy lather, Head back to the 8k then the 12k.

After getting my bevel set I used to go to a 5k hone, took a good 15 minutes for the edge and bevels to look really good. I since have added 2k which cut that time in half. Going from 1k to 4K is a jump, 4K- 8k is half the difference grit size wise.

Originally Posted by Euclid440

Again, the heavy stria on the Mora are grinding marks, you need to set the bevel on the mora.

You need to re-lap your stone. What are you lapping with?

I have the knife edge 45 degrees to the hone and the stria are 45 deg from the edge of the knife. I am lapping with a DMT D8C

Originally Posted by jfk742

Where are you located? Might be someone close who has some experience that may be able to help figure out what’s going on.

Does that line go away after a quick stropping? Marty’s comment on trying that then inspecting the bevel and edge helps get rid of any artifacts that may give you false information about how the edge is developing. Really what it comes down to is what the shave is like. If you feel any irritation not related to using too much pressure or crappy lather, Head back to the 8k then the 12k.

After getting my bevel set I used to go to a 5k hone, took a good 15 minutes for the edge and bevels to look really good. I since have added 2k which cut that time in half. Going from 1k to 4K is a jump, 4K- 8k is half the difference grit size wise.

There is no light glinting off the bevel that can be picked up by the human eye. If that a good enough bevel check then the bevel is set. I can't make promises for what is picked up/not picked up from my cell phone camera at maximum zoom. That line isn't in back to back photos either.

Originally Posted by onimaru55

The bevel also appears narrower at the white line. If so, the razor could be slightly warped, hence, parts of the blade will not contact as well. The white line is a result of 2 separate planes reflecting light differently.
Also you mentioned earlier of feeling a hard particle on the 8k during honing . This is a red flag that the surface is compromised.

Its an old razor and the spine doesn't have even wear on it, so the bevel isn't the same width along the length of it. I do not see any glints when I look down the bevel. I have other razors where the bevels haven't been set, for which I can see the glints

“I have the knife edge 45 degrees to the hone and the stria are 45 deg from the edge of the knife. I am lapping with a DMT D8C”

But you are not honing a flat bevel. And you are honing on a swarf loaded stone.

That is loaded up swarf on your stone and must be lapped off, otherwise you are lapping on the swarf not on the stone grit.

More importantly, your stone does not look flat, based on the swarf pattern. There is no swarf near the edge where there should be.

You have to lap the stone flat and bevel the edges. If you drag the bevel across a sharp corner of a stone, you can undue all you honing.

If you do not lap your stone completely flat the first time, you will have pockets of uneven grit, as you hone, these pockets will come in contact with the razor and can leave deep stria, because this part of the stone was never lapped flat.

You have to pencil grid and lap the stone several time, until you can grid the stone… and all the grid comes off the stone in one or two laps. Usually after a few laps slurry removes the pencil marks, the grit is not lapping/cutting into the stone.

There is a good tutorial Honing Lapping 101 in the library. I always lap my stones flat before each use and at the slightest appearance of swarf loading up, and at the edge of each grit, I re-lap and do my finishing lap on the freshly lapped stone.

I lap the stones flat with the d8c typically when I start the honing process and I regularly refresh/wash the surface of the stone with a small pocket arkansas stone and a spray bottle

OK jag123--I'll make you a deal. IF you are in the Continental United States (your profile doesn't seem to include your location for some reason), send me your razor via USPS Priority Small Box (a bit over $7) and I'll hone it finishing on my Norton 4/8 and then my Naniwa 12K and I'll ship it back to you N/C.

If you aren't in CONUS I'll split the shipping home to you 50/50.

PM me if you are interested.