Thread: Norton one stone honing......

Norton 8000, Single hone, slurry, double bevel


RodB stopped over today and we did some honing tests. This is the first one.
The goal was to see if we could use only one hone, with slurry, and develop a shaving edge.
Here is what we did....... I used standard X strokes, Rod B used half strokes and finished with X strokes.

We started with razors from antique stores so the edges were oxidized and had micro-nicks but no visible nicks. They were all full hollows, 9/16 & 5/8 size, no big wedges


The first task was to get rid of the old oxidized steel and nicks because the old steel will not hold an edge and/ or will chip out.
First we put on 2 layers of tape and performed 50 laps on 600 grit sandpaper, more laps if necessary, to remove any nicks, use heavy pressure.
Then 50 laps on 1000 grit sandpaper using heavy pressure.
Then removed the 2 layers of tape and replaced it with one layer of tape.
(The reason for 2 layers of tape is to minimize the depth and height of the scratches from the sandpaper.)
Then perform 50-75 additional laps on the “used” 1000 grit sandpaper using moderate pressure. The purpose of which is to get the bevel angle changed from a 2 layer angle to a one layer angle.
Now the old, oxidized steel & nicks are gone and the bevel is started at the proper angle.


Next was to work up a heavy slurry on the Norton 8000 and perform 50 laps with heavy pressure with one layer of tape.
Then dilute and perform another 50 laps with moderate pressure.
Then dilute again and perform another 50 laps with moderate pressure.
Then rinse off the slurry and clean the hone and change the tape to 2 layers. This will create the 2^nd ( micro) bevel angle..
Then perform 50 laps and use only water on the hone using a lite finishing pressure level.


then your done
both razors felt very good on the TPT and “Treetop” ( off skin) cutting arm hair test.
Next is the shave test.


We then did 2 more razors using the Coticule & BBW with slurry
The same procedure was used on the sandpaper
After the sandpaper we made a heavy slurry on the Coticule and performed about 100 laps with heavy pressure. Then we switched to the BBW and did about 50-75 laps with heavy pressure. The we switched back to the Coticule with a light slurry and a moderate pressure and performed 50-75 laps.
The final step was to add another layer of tape (total of 2 layers now) and perform 50 laps on the Coticule with water only and a light finishing pressure. This developed the second( micro) bevel and shaving edge.
Both edges felt good and ready for a shave test
I sent the razors home with RodB for shave testing
I will test them after he is done
It turns out that one of my Coticules, which I had not used before, is very hard and fine
It went surprisingly fast


I will add more after the shave tests.

Subscribing to this! Interesting and will be neat to see what comes of it.

1st off, big thanks to Randy as always for being a great host

Shave test results:

I stropped all the razors the same, on the same strop, 30 linen/50 leather and used my usual shave prep and Tabac soap

Here is the razors best to worst

1: RT honed Blake hollow, double bevel Norton 8k --- very nice edge, front to back, I could use this without complaint

2: RB honed C-Mon hollow, double bevel my Coticule -- My usual feeling edge, off of my stone I usually need an Escher or CrOx finisher, still very nice

3: RB honed W&B hollow, double bevel Norton 8k --- A little scratchy, but still usable this one went from 600 diamond-Norton 8k and needed an intermediate hone in the progression

4: RT honed Geneva, double bevel various RT Coticules --- Almost exactly like 3 above, Randy's main Coticule is very hard and is better used as a finisher and did little cutting even with slurry but seems to be a VERY nice finisher

5: RB honed Spike, RT #2 coticule --- Not great, on this one I went straight to the Coticule and nothing lower, given much more time on heavy slurry this would have worked better

Summary

A very interesting experiment with the Norton, it cuts very fast with slurry, even the one I did going straight from 600 to 8000 with slurry, it produced a very nice edge. With the Coticules, it was amazing to see the differences in stones, mine is very fast, Randy's #1 is much slower but finer, his #2 somewhere in between. Also the BBW sides all felt about the same.

It also shows that one becomes very used to his own stones and progressions.

I think that the Norton 8k with slurry slowly diluting to plain water could be a very nice option and could work as a single stone option

Very interesting!

Originally Posted by randydance062449

The first task was to get rid of the old oxidized steel and nicks because the old steel will not hold an edge and/ or will chip out.
First we put on 2 layers of tape and performed 50 laps on 600 grit sandpaper, more laps if necessary, to remove any nicks, use heavy pressure.
Then 50 laps on 1000 grit sandpaper using heavy pressure.
Then removed the 2 layers of tape and replaced it with one layer of tape.
(The reason for 2 layers of tape is to minimize the depth and height of the scratches from the sandpaper.)
Then perform 50-75 additional laps on the “used” 1000 grit sandpaper using moderate pressure. The purpose of which is to get the bevel angle changed from a 2 layer angle to a one layer angle.
Now the old, oxidized steel & nicks are gone and the bevel is started at the proper angle

What did you use to lay the sandpaper on? Glass? Just wondering, also I would presume that water was used? Also, how did you prevent the sandpaper from moving?

Again a very interesting experiment!

Randy this is a great experiment, thanks.

I would think the 8k would be very agressive in slurry being already very fast. Have you seen any chipping or overhoning after the first shaves?