Thread: Norton 4/8k vs Spyderco Ultrafine, need advice

hi everyone im happy i found this new forum because tomorrow im buying my first straight razor. what i wanted to know is how will a Norton edge compare to the edge i can get from a Spyderco stone? ive been reading alot about these stones and most people like the Nortons thats for sure but will the Spyderco UF work anyway? i know its harder, smaller and it needs to be "broken in" when new, but when this is done can i use one of them with good results?

im going to but my razor from germany (im in the EU) and the place didnt have Norton stones, but they did have the UF stone (not cheap tho..), and its relatively expensive to buy just one stone from the US with shipping and customs etc.
i am planning to buy stuff from the US but not right now, (diamondplate, paste etc).

so what do you guys think i should do? get the UF and razor from the same place, or bite the bullet and order the Norton from the US? if i order the UF stone will that just be money wasted?

/mike

I don't think anyone here really knows. I'm in the EU as well. I use a Belgian Coticule stone that I got from e-bay in Germany. It works for me. As long as the stone is fine enough and you have the proper techniques and patience to work on it and get it shave ready no-one will be able to tell you you're wrong.

And if you need any help let me know. I've been in the same predicament. As nice as these guys are most of them are kinda far away in a slightly different culture and situation than us europeans.

It got mixed reviews from the real honemeisters here. Joe Lerch and PB love it while Randy had some concerns over it.

Pros: You can use it with no prep. It should be fine enough.
Cons: It may cut too aggressively and damage the edge. It's a b**** to clean.

thanks guys for your replies.

hehe i know about the cleaning, my sharpmaker rods are like that, they load up very fast. when sharpening steel with much vanadium i have to clean the rods atleast one time per knife/sharpening

i bought the UF stone and a Dovo with stainless blade/stainless handle, it seemed like the best choice for me, a bit more rugged than wood/bone or micarta. im so excited, i cant wait until i get it but the germans work fast..

today i started working on 2 strops, the will look unorthodox to say the least.. one with softer thin leather (cow) and one smoother but harder doublesided (also cow). dont even know where to find canvas, and if i find it i wouldnt know if its the right canvas (supposed to be hemp from what ive read), so ill stick to leather only.

next week ill try to find diamondpowder or paste. would it work mixing diamondpowder in olive-oil to make a diy-paste/liquid? or is this a

At least one of our members, papabull (Robert Williams) is very satisfied with the Spyderco UF and I believe there are others. This is not to say that it is the only hone they use.

I have used it in the past but I did not kow that I should lap it first, not to flatten it but rather to knock off the "high points" which will chip the edge of the razor. You also need to do the same to the edges of the hone. I hope that you are aware that the UF hone is not the only stone that you will need.

You can order the linen from Tilly on www.redtrader99.com

Originally Posted by randydance062449

I have used it in the past but I did not kow that I should lap it first, not to flatten it but rather to knock off the "high points" which will chip the edge of the razor. You also need to do the same to the edges of the hone. I hope that you are aware that the UF hone is not the only stone that you will need.

yeah i had a feeling i would need more hones, this was just to get started, i have got the feeling the Spyderco hones/rods are very slow cutting. what would be a good complement to the UF hone (in japanese grit/US), do i need something finer or only coarser?

Since I already mentioned Tilly's site, you may want to just get a starter set of barber hones from her. I believe you'll get a coarse, a medium and a finishing hone. Again, mixed reviews but they should get you shaving.

Originally Posted by shaver47

yeah i had a feeling i would need more hones, this was just to get started, i have got the feeling the Spyderco hones/rods are very slow cutting. what would be a good complement to the UF hone (in japanese grit/US), do i need something finer or only coarser?

Compared to the Norton hones and diamond hones the Spyderco hones are slow. But then so is everything else!
Spyderco makes a medium , fine and ultrafne hone Just get the fine and ultrafine unless your going to restore some very bad edge's. The medium is about 800 grit. For something finer than the ultrafine I would suggest abrasive pasted paddle strop's with 1.0 and 0.5 micron pastes.

Hope this helps,

about the pastes. the .5µ diapaste seems hard to get but 1µ is more avalible. would i still get a good shave if i only used the 1µ paste instead of 1 and 0,5µ??

i may have found a stone ive read the UF stones are very fine (approx7-8k on jap scale (approx 2000 us grit)) so ill probably dont need any finer (hopefully) so i was thinking something in the 4k (jap) region.

maybe one of those shapton glassStones http://www.shaptonstones.com/stones/glass.php
the 4k one. cost: about 55bucks. and they look sooo good, first time i saw one i felt i just had to get me one of those babies.. but thats just me

so what do you think about the shapton glassStone 4k as a complement to my spyderco UF and 1µ diapaste??