Thread: How much water?

I have a norton 1000 grit stone, a norton 4000 grit stone, and a norton 8000 stone. I wanted to know if you should apply just enough water on the hone to cover it, or should you really soak your stone with a a lot of water? Basically, can a stone be soaked with too much water, or too little water causing it to not sharpen as well?

This is what the SRP wiki says about how much water ought to be used with Norton stones:

...the 8000 does not need to be soaked before use. The 220, 1000 and 4000 do need to be soaked for at least 15 minutes before use. The 1k is a relatively fast cutter and is an efficient bevel setter. The 4k and 8k used in a pyramid or progressively have proved to be very effective in the hands of a expert honer while being user friendly to the careful beginner.

In addition to the soaking required by the 1K and 4K stones you should keep a little water on the surface of the hones (including the 8K). Some guys use a spray bottle, some just dribble a little on with their fingers or some kind of small pitcher. Check out some of the honing videos.

BTW, lapping the hones is pretty much mandatory before use so if you haven't done it to your Nortons you should plan to do so. A quick search will turn up more than you need to know about lapping.

I find that even with soaking for 30 minutes befor use the 1K and 4K really soak in fast so I think it's important to keep it well wetted during use.

Bathe the Nortons until they stop bubbling.
You'll come to enjoy the bacon-like sizzle the 1k/4k makes when you drop it in the water.

Originally Posted by HNSB

Bathe the Nortons until they stop bubbling.
You'll come to enjoy the bacon-like sizzle the 1k/4k makes when you drop it in the water.

Yea like fizzies, remember fizzies?