Thread: Pockmarked Norton 4K

Hi, I am new here, been lurking for the past few months, relay glad I found this site. now I just have to ask a question, my post is long but please be patient.

Recently acquired Norton 4/8K and 220/1K hones, but I think the 4K is… well “not normal” I have some pix.

The first is the Norton 4K, the other for comparison is the 1K.
The 1K is smooth and blemish free but the 4K seems to have “pot holes”
I put one of those single edge industrial razors in the pix so you get an idea of the texture of the hone.
Even the camera couldn’t get good focus on the 1K because it so smooth but no problem with auto focus on the 4K as you can see.

I lapped the other 3 grits with no problems. Even tried a progressive lapping approach…. 600 grit -> 1000 grit -> 2k grit sand paper but this 4K is just stubborn. No matter what I do I can’t get it smooth. It will put a bevel on the razor (with a very jagged edge) but I feel it could do better.


The 1K is smoother to the touch than this 4K

Lately I have been thinking that I should “skip” the 4K and go straight to the 8K from the 1K when restoring a razor’s edge but that’s like skipping 3rd gear when driving stick shift.

Question: Is this normal for a Norton 4K or do I have a bad one.

Thanks for your help

You have lapped and used this hone and it still feels coarser than a 1K. Hmm... See if there is anyone near you that you can compare hones with. If it is bad call the Norton customer service and ask for a replacement. They are very helpful and have done this for a couple of other guys on this forum.

Thanks Randy, I am hoping enough SRP members Norton 4/8 would look at the pix and compare it to theirs (if my pix are good enough) and give me some feedback.
I live in the NY city area if there is anyone near me I would gladly take my hone and compare.
I didn’t buy my hone directly from Norton; I will give them a call but I just want to be sure that it is in fact defective before I call... “Tech Support"...

S

I've had that exact problem too.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/showt...ghlight=pitted


Take it back and get a new one. After 2 tries I gave up and went to Japanese water stones and chromium oxide paddles. No regrets.

My Norton 4k is visibly "grittier" if you will - much less densly packed than my 8k side. I can't say if my 4k is "pitted" as your since I've never taken such a macro photograph, but I suspect that it may be.

Mark

Well, I just took a look at mine and it is porous like yours... as for the grit, it's kinda hard to tell by looking at it. Rather than going by the feel with your hand over the stones (your fingers will feel the porosity and detect that as coarseness), how does it feel when honing a blade? You could also take a look at the bevel with a radio shack type microscope or 30x loupe possibly. Do the scratch marks look coarser or finer than when coming off the coarser stone?

Personally, I think it's highly unlikely the stone is defective but it's not impossible I suppose.

Regards

Christian

Its fine, don't worry about it. Don't try and compare the 1K and the 4K by feel. You'll only confuse yourself. They don't feel the way they should by grit rating. Move to a 220 on the other hand and woe . . .

Without getting into complicated anti-overhoning theory those little pock marks may actually help you out a little.

Did you get this 4k8k within the last month new or is it older? Norton moved their 4k8k line to Mexico and started shipping in late December. The stones, packing, and shipping are better than they were when they assembled them in New Hampshire. As far as pockmarking is concerned, most stones will be pockmarked if you magnify enough. The real question is: does it finish a razor on the 8k side well enough that, with some stropping, it will shave you well?

Those stones are fired ceramic stones and Norton has a lot of quality control in place. Your stone is probably normal. If you really want to wring out the last bit of performance from your razor, use the 4k8k and then finish up on a belgian coticule. You will be amazed.

Originally Posted by 0o.Mark.o0

I've had that exact problem too.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/showt...ghlight=pitted


Take it back and get a new one. After 2 tries I gave up and went to Japanese water stones and chromium oxide paddles. No regrets.

Thanks for the thread link, this is interesting... seems quite a few members have the same issue with the N4K
I can see the "pits" with my 40+yo eyes and while honing the blade there seems to be "rough spots" to one end like some of the grains are more tightly packed so I have been using the smoother parts (so I can say I have a sweet spot on the 4K).

Originally Posted by kaptain_zero

Well, I just took a look at mine and it is porous like yours... as for the grit, it's kinda hard to tell by looking at it. Rather than going by the feel with your hand over the stones (your fingers will feel the porosity and detect that as coarseness), how does it feel when honing a blade? You could also take a look at the bevel with a radio shack type microscope or 30x loupe possibly. Do the scratch marks look coarser or finer than when coming off the coarser stone?

Personally, I think it's highly unlikely the stone is defective but it's not impossible I suppose.

Regards

Christian

Make no mistake the 4K will put a good bevel on the blade but under the loupe the scratch pattern looks no different from the 1K and I have to do 70+ laps on the 8K to get them out then another 70+ to final polish.