Thread: Norton Grit Leap

Leap with me if you will from the 4,000 side of a Norton to the 8,000....there, now question for ya... ????

- Is that a far jump?

- Any hone you can use to bridge that gap?

- What techniques can take you from one to the other easier?

It looks like my Itsapeech barber hone is between this two grits... I'm not sure, I only used it once. I don't see the reason from going with grit between, but the barber hones are cheap (and uncertant) way of gapping that bridge...

Most of the european articles I've read reguarding the "Blue" Belgian hones have related them to approx a 6K grit size... Now there are differing opnions and some say they are more like 4K norton but slower I've been toying with the idea of picking one up just to see if in fact it might bridge the gap between the 4K-and-8K.

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

Leap with me if you will from the 4,000 side of a Norton to the 8,000....there, now question for ya... ????

- Is that a far jump?

- Any hone you can use to bridge that gap?

- What techniques can take you from one to the other easier?

I don't think it's a big jump, but you can decide for yourself. Do you feel lke you need to do too many swipes on the 8K? If so, you need something in between. I like to do under 30 swipes on a stone. If a jump requires a lot more, I'll put a stone in between.

Most guys find this to be a very comfortable jump.

Most fel the Belgians (blue and yellow) cut finer than heir rated grit size would indicate. Lynn feels the yellow is more like a 12K than the 8K is is commonly considered. The bluse "should" be a 4K stone but does cut slower and possibly finer than that.
I have a few in my shop now but have been spending my time experimenting with the yellows more.


Tony

I do not find the jump to be large at all. What I have found is that paying attention to the bevel creation is of the utmost importance. Once that bevel is properly created then everything else goes quickly.

The Belgian blue stone has not been satisfying to use. It is very slow. I suppose that if it were the only stone available then you could make do with it but why bother? Any Japanese 4000 waterstoone will be faster cutting and the Norton 4000 cuts the fastest of all.

I just want to note again I had asked a bit back why I should spend more money on these stones since I already have a Norton 4k/8k and a 12k stone. I was hoping to hear they honed better, faster, easier. No one was able to convince me of any of that. I think I will stay with what I have.