Thread: norton 4000 gritty and rough

I just received my 1st norton 4k/8k from craftsman studio.
I lapped it on a mirror with 3m 400 and 1000 grit wet/dry
the 8k side finished beautifully smooth, yet the 4k side feels like there is lots of gritty pebbles in the stone when I gently pass a razor down the surface. The razor is an old cheapy off ebay, it not very sharp, but has no visible nicks.

I've gone back 3 times to the 400 and 1000 and once back to a 220 grit regular sand paper. I've used a pencil multiple times to ensure that I am getting all of it off and flat. Each time I've wiped and rubbed the stone clean with my fingers and a sponge. I'm fairly certain it is not sandpaper grit that I am feeling. I can also find the high spots repeatedly with different parts of the blade.

I looked through the archives and only found one post similar that mentioned to lap off the factory surface, yet I don't seem to be getting anywhere.

any suggestions? Is that how it is supposed to feel? How much do I need to take off? what am I not doing correctly?
thanks
aaron

Originally Posted by biminyrd

...
I'm fairly certain it is not sandpaper grit that I am feeling. I can also find the high spots repeatedly with different parts of the blade.

If a good scrubbing didn't get rid of the "gritty spots" after lapping once or twice, I'd replace the hone.

so, I should just exchange it for another? Is this common? to have a bad stone?
aaron

It's not real common. It has happened before. No company has 100% perfect production. Norton is known to quickly replace any defective product.

Keep in mind the 8K side can be polished almost to a mirror finish because well its 8K. The 4K side is naturally rougher and will never approach that smothness. If it did it wouldn't be 4K. It will always feel gritty.

I can tell it is rough with my fingers, but should it "catch" my blade in really tiny, random spots all the way down the stone? I can even see where it is scratching this blade. It seems that these "grits" should not be there, though the stone should be uniformly rough. However, I just don't know what a normal experience should be with the norton out of the box.
I would post a pic, but my wife is out of town with the camera.
aaron

Aaron,

One more thought before you call Norton. Does the white side of the stone appear to be a uniform texture and color? Look very closely.

You should have removed all of the factory surface by now, but if not, there may be some spots that have a pebbly look and feel.

You said the spots seem random, so I'm guessing that they change each time you lap it? In that case there's something weird going on.

Good luck,
Josh

I just spent another 30 minutes last night on 220, 600 and 1000 sandpaper on a mirror.
the 4k white surface looks fairly uniform and there is no discoloration. I've read posts about pitted surface and holes. This does not seem to be the problem. It really doesn't matter where on this side I put the blade, or what the surface looks like. Even where it looks and feels perfect, the blade get caught and stuck. It doesn't seem right to me, and I definitely would not use an expensive or moderately expensive razor on here.

So yeah, I guess I'll give Norton a call, unless it is more appropriate to call the vendor who sold me the stone.
Aaron

Let me know how you make out because I have the same problem, except it's on the 8k side.

anyone know their customer service phone #? all i've been able to do is fiil out a 'contact us' form on their website.
aaron