Thread: Narrow hones

Also, if you hone while holding the hone in one hand (I don't, but some do) then not paying attention will cause you to slice away a neat layer of flesh when your fingers accidentally rise above the honing surface.

I hold them in my hand and find it uncomfortable after a while because I can't move them around. It kinda helps me concentrate on honing, though.

On a different note, I contacted the customer service of the people who make the gray ones and they said the course one is 120 grit and the fine one is 900. This is somewhat confusing to me because the edge they put on the razor is so much smoother than the grits of the dmts. And I can go to the shapton without any problem. So, I take a closer look at all my hones to start researching and figuring out what the grits could be, and I'll be danged if the orange india stone isn't a norton. I couldn't tell what the label on it said until I really got a better look at it. It had another hone attached to the other side at one point in time. It was dark in color - gray or black. Looking at norton's site, it's a bit harder than the waterstones. knifecenter says norton impregnates their oilstones with oil before they ship them out? I'm still looking for the grit of it.

Looking at other posts here at srp, it might be a 4k or better. Maybe it cuts fast because I don't use it with oil?

Here is Nortons catalog In it the finest India stone they have is rated at 600 grit and it is the same color as your stone Or 22.0 microns in particle size.

Thats why we are saying your hones are too rough. Most guy here go finer than 1 micron in their sharpening, and many go as fin as 0.25 microns.

Even after clunking my razor on a faucet it doesn't get down to a stone in this category.

Oil stones should always be used with oil, you might be getting results not in line with what is expected from a stone of that type because it is clogged and therefore not cutting to its potential.

Norton impregnates their oilstones with a petroleum product that keeps the oil on the top from soaking in, thus keeping the swarf completely on top of the stone and suspended in the honing oil you add so that the stone remains pure and unclogged.

In a Normal oilstone honing progression it would be common to go from a extra fin India stone to a hard Arkansas or to use a soft Arkansas stone in place of the extra fine India stone. In fact for my kitchen knifes I use an oilstone progression starting at a fine India stone for blemish removal then moving to a soft Arkansas then to a hard white Arkansas stone for a finish, I don't go any finer with these implements as I don't think they need it, but for a razor I would start at the Hard white then move to a Black surgical and finish on a Translucent Arkansas if I wanted an all oilstone route.