Thread: Norton 4000/8000

So I got my Norton Hone from Howard the other day. I didn't realize how huge those things were, like a small brick. Anyway I constantly read on here about you guys with mulitple hones, pasted strops, etc. I wonder if I'm okay with just my Norton 4000/8000 and my old leather strop? Or is it a case of I can make do with that, but it would be nicer to have 20 different hones and various strops?

It's subjective.
You can do just fine with just a Norton and a strop. If you search the earlier days of this forum, that's what most people did.
That being said, you can also do with just one razor. See where I'm going with this? Once you have a system that works for you, such as the Norton and a leather strop, then you have freedom to "play" with the other options out there, fine tuning if you need, and who knows, you may like something better, and other things you won't like as much. You will still, however, always have that tried and true method to fall back on, the one that almost always works.
Like having a favorite razor that you know shaves well...allows you to buy others, and experiment with them until they too shave you well. Or something like that.
Get all the hones, razors, brushes or strops, etc. you want. It's what makes this fun, IMHO.


John P.

Just for what it's worth, I'm not doing ok with Norton 8k edge and a leather & cotton strap. Maybe it's just me though. My razors shave, but not without pain

I'm the least experienced, but I think one common response would be to add a belgian yellow coticule as a finisher. Or alternatively, a swaty or escher, but I have just a coticule and am loving it.

So would the 8000 grit not be fine enough? I would like to keep my setup as simple as possible, I'm not interested in buying extra hones if I don't have to. I just want to be able to maintain my current collection of three razors that all came to me in ready to shave shape. I was going to use my Clauss as a learning razor because it was the cheapest of my three and in the worst shape. If it goes well with that then I may look at restoring that razor and rescaling it. If that goes well I may try buying some razors in poorer condition and restoring them for fun, at that point I might invest in some different hones for that type of work, probably a courser and finer stone.

I would invest another $35 in a Chinese 12K. I think that it will pay for itself. After a month of shaving, the $1 a day will seem like a bargain.

Where would someone obtain a Chinese 12K??

Originally Posted by FLYBYU44

Where would someone obtain a Chinese 12K??

Here:

Razor Strops, Hones, and Accessories

Originally Posted by FLYBYU44

Where would someone obtain a Chinese 12K??

Woodcraft: here

You can also get a yellow coticule from Howard The Perfect Edge
The coticule is imo the ideal finishing stone if you are starting out. It doesn't clog (it's not porous) it's relatively cheap, and gives a fine edge.

But I have had no problems in shaving with an edge off the 4000/8000 stone. I did this for a while.
Lynn used his 4000/8000 for years as his only stone, so I am not alone in this opinion.

But if you want a finisher, I'd pick the coticule over the chinese stone, simply because it isn't porous (the surface doesn't load) and because it is very versatile: you can change the cutting speed by changing the way you use it, and his makes it good for touching up razors that are not quite shaveready.