Thread: when do you guys use the slurry?

i understand what slurry does when it comes to using the norton stones. but is it a necessary agent when it comes to other stones?

It depends on the stone, I'd say.
On a coticule it makes it cut and when you use it without, it polishes.

I'm confused. I have never heard anyone advocate the use of slurry on Norton hones.
Slurry seems to be a trick for natural hones in order to make them cut quicker, possiblyat the expense of ultimate keenness of the resultant edge.
Are ou saying you use slurry on the Norton hone?

Connor

Norton makes a slurry stone for the 4/8. I have never used a slurry on my Nortons. Not saying it isn't good...... I never tried it. I do use a slurry on BBW, sometimes on the yellow coticule and Eschers. Also on the Tam O'Shanter and Dalmore Blue. Shapton doesn't recommend a slurry for their stones. I don't know about the Naniwa line as I haven't had one to try yet. If you want the stone to cut faster than it does with water by itself slurry will do it.

really with just about any stone as you hone slurry naturally forms and enhances the job. If you use a slurry stone you can immediately get the real thick heavy duty stuff.
Personally I never use slurry no matter the stone with the exception of my vintage Japanese natural stone. I can't really see the value of using slurry on the Norton other than the natural stuff that forms.

I'm not sure that the Norton "slurry stone" actually creates a slurry other than from off of itself because it is so soft. I consider it to be a prep stone that clears swarf off of the stone but I don't think does much to improve cutting power of the hone.

Originally Posted by Utopian

I'm not sure that the Norton "slurry stone" actually creates a slurry other than from off of itself because it is so soft. I consider it to be a prep stone that clears swarf off of the stone but I don't think does much to improve cutting power of the hone.

This is very much true as is the same thing for almost all nagura stones.

These little stones are quite frequently used to "create a slurry" but what's really being done is that this stone is cleaning the larger stone's surface and breaking down in the process. This creates a paste that's made up of about 98% nagura, 1% metal swarf, and 1% large stone particles. Now add to the mix that almost all synthetic naguras (like the Norton) are no finer than 6k in grit size (many are much coarser) and you can easily see how using them to create a slurry on a finishing stone/hone is a bad idea. I've used a bunch of different naguras and have never found one that makes better slurry than if you just used a diamond plate on the larger stone to make some mud. These nagura stones are only good for light cleaning tasks and for surface conditioning (ie - refining the stone surface for better results), besides that they're useless.

Great post Dave.

I have `slurry' stones with my Y/G Escher,
Coticule, and Nakayama. I typically use it
on the wet stone before starting to hone,
but I don't let a thick slurry build up. I will
add more water after using the rubbing
stone, and will keep adding water during
the honing process. Basically what it comes
down to for me is to refresh the surface of
the stone each time I use it.

- Scott

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Norton makes a slurry stone for the 4/8. I have never used a slurry on my Nortons. Not saying it isn't good...... I never tried it. I do use a slurry on BBW, sometimes on the yellow coticule and Eschers. Also on the Tam O'Shanter and Dalmore Blue. Shapton doesn't recommend a slurry for their stones. I don't know about the Naniwa line as I haven't had one to try yet. If you want the stone to cut faster than it does with water by itself slurry will do it.

+1 on what Jimmy said and well as the other guys. If you want the hone to cut faster make some slurry. I had tried it on the BBW, coticule but find it a little tricky getting the edge to where I like it. It is based on diluting the slurry as you hone and I din't have the patients to go that route. Sometimes I use slurry on my bevel setter to bring the edge down quicker but after that is is just lather or just water. It really depends on the style of honing you want to do and the hones you use. There are guys that swear by slurry on Belgian hones with good results. I respect their methods. I prefer a different method. You should experiment and find what works best for you. A search of SRP on slurry may lead you to the posts regarding the Belgians I am referring to and guide you through the process. The posts are well done and very detailed. Sorry guys, I don't remember who made the posts but thanks for making them. They are very well done.

Sometimes I use a slurry on my King 1K (synthetic), but that's only when I'm getting really frustrated with how long it's taking to set a bevel (which is more frequent that one might think, unless you know my taste in razors). But I always finish on the 1K without a slurry.

Next place I use slurry is on my BBW; that thing is such a slow cutter without slurry. I find that so long as I don't start with a thick slurry, I don't have any trouble with rounded edges, but I also dilute the slurry on the blue every 25 strokes or so until I end with just water.

Sometimes, if I have a full hollow that seems close to having a bevel, I'll use a coticule with slurry. Again, just a light slurry. I've also noticed that I often have to re-create a slurry because the stone turns black with metal and I don't want lots of metal in my slurry. After setting a bevel with slurry on a coticule, I may go back down to the BBW with slurry and then up my usual progression or I might just stay on the yellow.

When creating a slurry, I use either my DMT or something else that doesn't break down (like my Spyderco Medium pocket hone) or I use another of the same type of stone as a slurry stone (BBW on BBW to create blue slurry or coticule on coticule to create coticule slurry). This way I mostly avoid the unknowns of mixed grits.

The one exception is that I was experimenting a bit with coticule slurry on a BBW, just to see what the cutting speed would be like. I didn't play around with it enough to really figure anything out.