Thread: Cr0..Does it really make a difference

Thanks for the great replies guys! I must have absolutely no talent at this whole honing thing! I've been trying to get my Frederick Reynolds ready for 2 days now and I'm still struggling

The only way I got my razor close to shave ready was by using some 3M Automotive sand paper 2000. I then moved to the 8k side of my norton and then the yellow coticule with water and finished off with a barber hone and some shaving cream on it.

The shave was 'Okay' I guess but I'm sure it could have been better.

I then made the mistake of trying to use the 4k side of my norton 4k/8k to get it to a better point.

After going at this for about an hour on the 4k. The shaver is still crap.

Why is it so easy with the automotive sandpaper...

I'd like to be able to use the 4k side of my Norton...It gets pretty expensive and inconvenient having to change the sandpaper every 10-15 strokes.

The 4k side is just so rough and bumpy... (and yes I've lapped the stone)

HELP plz!

Originally Posted by Dups

The 4k side is just so rough and bumpy... (and yes I've lapped the stone)

My Norton 4/8 works fine now, but I had to lap at least an eighth of an inch off of the 4000 side to get rid of the bumpy, granular surface of the stone when it was factory fresh. It really felt rough when honing (and I messed up a couple of edges) so I just kept on lapping it until it felt smoother. I thought I was nuts or had a bad stone until Lynn told me that he does the same thing. I felt better after that, and so does my Norton.

I can offer two suggestions:

1) I would regard going from a coticule with water to a barber hone as a step backward. Even with lather, even if it's a Swaty 3 line or a Perfect brand hone.

2) If your edge was "close", I wouldn't drop down to the 4k but would spend more time on the 8k or the coticule. Of course I've never adopted the pyramid approach, so I don't know if you were intending on doing a pyramid 4k/8k honing technique?

Chris L

Hi Christ,

My approach was to try to replicate the results from the sandpaper using my 4k/8k stone.

I didn't buy the hone to only use the 8k side heh.

So what kind of grit would a yellow coticule with water be equal to?


Thanks Bill! My hone is not very old. It was only used for about 2-3 times before I got it. Maybe going hard at it with my Norton lapping stone would help..

Originally Posted by Chris L

I would regard going from a coticule with water to a barber hone as a step backward. Even with lather, even if it's a Swaty 3 line or a Perfect brand hone.

i don't own a barbers hone but that is what i thought too when i read it.

+1 on the norton 4k side working great.

my suggestion is lap it more, if your using paper use a brush to make sure no grit gets imbedded. after that i got nothin

I'm using a Norton lapping stone..Would that work as well?

I got the stone pretty nice after some long time lapping it...still no good result though...the sound is much better no more real grinding but just can't get it sharp enough..

Is it possible that it's just not possible (well without spending a week) to hone it without going to a lower grit like some 3m sandpaper

Originally Posted by Dups

Hi Christ,

My approach was to try to replicate the results from the sandpaper using my 4k/8k stone.

I didn't buy the hone to only use the 8k side heh.

So what kind of grit would a yellow coticule with water be equal to?


Thanks Bill! My hone is not very old. It was only used for about 2-3 times before I got it. Maybe going hard at it with my Norton lapping stone would help..

Hey Chris, you just got promotion!