Thread: The Famous/Infamous Norton 4/8 "JaNorton 2012"

^ In that video, I forgot to mention that I did twenty passes on my wet arm after the leather. haha That probably sounds a little odd, but it works like a charm, I think.

I took the W&B down into the hone-zone this afternoon, and pulled out the 8K. I did 5 regular X strokes, just plain water. Rinse. New water and wiped it off....10 damp stone strokes. Stropped on the SRD Premium III, 40-80.

The shave was equal in smoothness to the Dovo. The difference in the feel is now distilled to the fact that one is a 5/8 and one is a 7/8. The quality of the shaves is equal, comfortable, and oh yeah.....FUN!

Sounds great Maxi!

This mornings (Sunday) shave with my Gotta was awesome as well, 4th shave with it I think.
Redid the Globusmen per Glens JaNorton video for tomorrows shave, will update then.

I've now had 3 shaves w/ the W. Allen & 3 shaves w/ the Meteor Razor works. All the shaves have been excellent, with the tip of the hat going to the Meteor Razor Works. I will take the W. Allen back to the hones for a tiny bit of work on the 8k just for fun. The Meteor Razor works has an outstanding edge that I could shave the rest of my days on with no complaints. The W. Allen is plenty sharp and smooth, I just think I can get it better with a little more work.

Since beginning the JaNorton challenge, I've noticed a couple things that I may have other wise missed with my daily shave and I thought I would share them:

1. If an edge is not as smooth as one likes, stropping CAN and WILL be able to smooth it out (it just takes many more laps than normal, I normally do 30 linen & 60 leather, yet during JaNorton, I've done as many as 100 on linen and 200 on leather).
2. I have been reminded of how much one should be aware of using less pressure during the shave as failing to follow this axiom results in irritation with the edge off of the 8k. In other words you can get by with more pressure off a JNAT, Escher, Coticule, etc without the irritation (though this isn't necessarily a good thing).

I'm really pleased with the shaves off of the Norton 4k/8k thus far. Keep them coming gentlemen!
Glenn

This has been the greatest thread for me to date. I have been straight shaving off and on for a couple months, just got a set of nortons for xmas and have been diving in on two old straights (one from Larry and Whipped Dog, and one a 72 1/2 Henckels I bought off ebay from Libya !) In any case, since i work at a law firm I can't follow the rules of sticking to these two straights as my only method of shaving since my honing is somewhat atrocious and I would look like i attended fight club as im not quite shave ready skill yet, However... i have hit a milestone and after bread-knifing both razors using the great advice from this thread have set the bevels on both and got them both to pop hairs at the skin level... a first. You guys are awesome with the information sharing and zeal you all have for this is infectious. I'm excited to practice my finishing on the 8k tonight to see if I can actually get a shave ready finish on one or the other. (after shmbo is content in front of the tube)

Thanks all, im certain this has propelled my interest and skill growth much faster than my idle trolling.


***edit

completed a pyramid hone on both razors and maybe 70 strop laps and shaved with them last night. 3 days growth shave test for both. Not what i would call a smooth shave, slight tugging in some areas along the american blade, the henckels was almost a smooth shave! (the henckels also seems to take twice as long to get to the same level of sharpness, popping hairs above the skin) All in all for my 2nd hone attempt ever a totally successful and incredibly close shave with only one weeper..

Well im a few shaves in with both razors and will stay of the hone for a while, keeping the 2 razors rotation going and doing some
good stropping hoping to smooth it all out a little more.Been following the whole process so far and learned a lot and hoping to learn some more keep the info coming!!!! Will report in a few days!!

I have been 'cheating' a bit - not actually sticking to just two razors. so far this month I have honed a Genco Pyramid razor, two Morley Clovers, an old Karbon King, and just yesterday a Dubl Duck. I have an old Wade and Butcher and a Shumate arriving this week, both of which I will hone and get shave ready (or at least, my version of shave ready). Like other beginners here, watching Glen's videos, and reading all the super helpful posts in this thread has taken me to a point I never would have thought possible.

My razors are more than usable, and the shaves have been pretty darn fine. I will take most of the razors I have honed back to the norton again soon, kill the edges and try again. The is so much to learn, but all the gents here on SRP have been very informative and helpful.

Barry

I just got back from a weekend away at an archery tournament. As a rule if I am out of town I don't shave and i have never brought my straights away from home. {To shave with!} Hauling around strops soap brush etc. along with the razor is more than I want for my days off. But I said that I would get as many shaves in this month with my razors as possible. So I took the Bengall and did 25 laps on the Latigo strop. Tossed it in my day bag and away I went.

Saturday mornings shave went good. No stropping but I did that the day before. The little bar of facial soap that the Marriott supplied wasn't the best. It is suppose to be moisturizing etc. etc. But I would only give it one star. A little more sleep may have helped also. But overall I would grade the shave acceptable.

This morning I awoke better rested. The biggest excitement the night before was watching the crows fly around downtown Des Moines at sunset. From our hotel window we watched one flock for over 20 minutes fly by and roost on top of the buildings nearby. I can see why they have a skyway system. I wouldn't have wanted to be walking under them! Again my opinion of the little bar soap was reinforced. I suppose if I would have brought a shaving brush that may have helped things. The Bengall seemed a little grabbier on the hairs but there are to many variables to select the exact cause.

The end results were very positive. I got some hugs from some beautiful women that I hadn't seen in a while and there were no comments about my course cheeks!

Tim

Originally Posted by niftyshaving

...To lap flat all you need is the weight of the hone...

WARNING, a stupid newbie question coming up I should know the answer to. I got a brand new Norton flattening stone today from a VERY nice fellow from here for nothing. Thanks VERY much, Sir, you are a true gentleman!

On the instructions it says "for best results, bring the waterstone to the flattening stone". I read that as "Place the waterstone ON the flattening stone [not vice versa, as I generally do]. Does anyone lap their hone by placing the hone ON the lapping stone/plate? I guess it may not really matter, as long as which ever is on the surface is on a flat surface, the entire surface is lapped, and the *right* amount of pressure is used, however, it's my tendency to over think things, which in a way is better than not thinking at all (maybe, is it?)...

Originally Posted by carlmaloschneider

WARNING, a stupid newbie question coming up I should know the answer to. I got a brand new Norton flattening stone today from a VERY nice fellow from here for nothing. Thanks VERY much, Sir, you are a true gentleman!

On the instructions it says "for best results, bring the waterstone to the flattening stone". I read that as "Place the waterstone ON the flattening stone [not vice versa, as I generally do]. Does anyone lap their hone by placing the hone ON the lapping stone/plate? I guess it may not really matter, as long as which ever is on the surface is on a flat surface, the entire surface is lapped, and the *right* amount of pressure is used, however, it's my tendency to over think things, which in a way is better than not thinking at all (maybe, is it?)...

If you watch Glen's lapping video you will notice he places the hone ON TOP of his DMT with water JUST over the top....and I will say I stole this method and it seems to work GREAT! although I also think I've seen him, and others, do it in the opposite I am pretty sure either way will work fine!