Thread: some questions about honing that i couldn't find in help files.

just a few quick ones:

1 what is the exact method to prepare the stone and razor for honing? water soaking is necessary, but how long? can i put the whole thing in the water (getting a norton 4/8), or just one side?

2 do i need to rinse/wet/dry the stone during the honing process?

3 how is the stone de-prepped, cleaned, dried, put away? is any special care necessary? do i ever need to buy anything other than the stone itself (ie. does the stone require periodic maintenance?), and what do i need to perform such maintenance if it exists?

please keep in mind, i'm a bare-bones kind of guy. i'm trying to keep my straight razor experience as simple as possible by minimizing the amount of stuff i have to acquire. if some thing to be bought will only make the difference between ridiculously sharp and adequately sharp, i'll take adequate if it means keeping my life uncluttered.

1. The stone comes with user manual. It needs to be soaked for atleast 10 minutes, or untill the bubbles stop emerging from the white side (4000 grit, coarse). Norton tells you the yellow side (8000 grit, fine) does not need soaking, just a splash of water, and I've done that until recently, but I thing soaking it helps keeping the stone cleen. So, just throw it (not literary, ofcourse) in a tub of water, leave it for 10 minutes, and you'r good to go. The razor does not require soaking...

2. Keep the stone well moistened during entire honing process, and ocasionally rince the black markings that will develope with your hand in the same tub the stone soaked in.

3. Same hand rub/cleaning pad, untill nice and clean, and then store it outside the box for couple of days, untill completely dry, inside out. If you put it in the box right away, it will develop mold. Ocasinally, when the black markings are not comming off with the hand rub/clening pad you can clean the stone by rubbing it with flat pumice stone under stream of water. It might be smart to do initial lapping with pumice stone when you first get the stone, if the surface is not velvety smooth to the touch.

Nothing else to purchace exept for the stone and good strop. Except, well, more razors. But, that's another story...

Nenad

... and also just a few quick ones :

ad 1: soaking for 10 minutes should be ok, with the whole stone (I think this is not mandatory, though)...

ad 2: depending on the how much debris from removed metal I have while honing (that's usually only when I restore/create a bevel), I rub it with my hand under flowing tap water for cleaning in between. Others than that: no

ad 3: cleaning is like in ad 2, plus (very rarely) flattening with a 1000 grit paper on a glass plate. Please note that I would heavily recommend this as an inital prep for the stone as well !

Just my 2 cents,
-Axel-

where should i get this glass plate? do most of you folks agree that the norton stones need prepping before the first use?

Mine needed no prep out of the box, but started responding differently after its first lapping as it got smoother. I've recently lapped it with a lapping compound I got along with my glass lapping plate at Lee Valley Tools. The 4k side is humming now, but I think the 8k needs to be done too. That's 6 months of moderate honing. Whether you use the compound or sandpaper, the plate is something you'll need eventually anyhow, but you might have some glass hanging around. Just make sure it's good and thick.

X

1. Most definitely flatten the hone first. I use 3/8 inch think plate glass, about 15x15 inches square, and start with 400 grit sandpaper on the glass. The hone and the sandpaper should be wet, of course. Then place the hone up against the glass and make sure it's flat. Don't do this with the stone dripping wet, otherwise it will look like it sucks flat to the glass, when in fact, it's not. Push the stone up against the glass to squeeze out the water in between and take a close look that it's actually flat. Keep sanding the stone on the glass until it is flat, and don't worry about wearing down the stone. Unless you plan to hone a thousand razors, it will last you a lifetime. Once the stone is flat at 400 grit sandpaper, go to 1200 grit or around there and make it nice and smooth. Use a figure eight pattern. Do this for both sides.

Other notes: Make sure the razor you get is true. You can also test this with glass or a flattened hone. Just make sure when the blade sits on the hone that the edge is in full contact. If there is a smile in the blade, (for example part of the blade bows up in the middle and doesn't touch the hone), I've found them almost impossible to sharpen. The experts here can do it, but it's going to be very difficult for a beginner.

If you have a true razor and a flat hone, then all you have to do is be very careful and very GENTLE when honing. As a beginner who is finally getting the hang of it, keep one thing in mind: DON'T OVERHONE. Also, don't try to get it ridiculous sharp in one session, do it incrementally. Shave with it and if it's not up to par, have a small 5 minute honing session before your next shave and see if it's any better. This incremental procedure really helped me and keeps the frustration level down.

E

Originally Posted by ericm

1. Most definitely flatten the hone first.

There is no reason at all to flatten the brand new Norton stone. It comes from the factory as flat as it can be.

Nenad

Originally Posted by superfly

There is no reason at all to flatten the brand new Norton stone. It comes from the factory as flat as it can be.

Nenad

I bought two Norton stones, one 4/8K, and one 8K, both brand new. Neither of them were flat. One had a football shaped divet in the middle. Nenad is right if you're going to use the X-pattern, where part of the blade can leave the hone, I don't think the hone has to be as flat. For those of us who don't use the "x-pattern" having a very flat hone is very important. I use a heel-leading stroke, with the whole blade on the hone the entire time, but this is not the real "x-pattern".

E

Originally Posted by ericm

I bought two Norton stones, one 4/8K, and one 8K, both brand new. Neither of them were flat. One had a football shaped divet in the middle.

E

In that case, I take my words back. I thought the factory cuts the stones from the bulk material, and is not leaving them to "seetle" like the barber's hones, that would make them flat...

Nenad