Printable View
I have a couple razors that have lots of chips along the blade, or have an uneven blade (warped, not smiling). My norton 220 and 1k don't seem to be evening things out. Is there a different type of stone that would work better? I think some have mentioned a DMT diamond stone. Can you get those at Lowe's or Home Depot? What grit is good? Or should I just stick with the norton?
The DMTs referred to on this site are often 325 grit, so less aggressive than the 220 Norton. I have rarely gone below my 1K Norton and usually don't even use that. The Nortons should be working for you. What kind of negative results are you getting?
Hmmmm, this is interesting.
At first thought, no offence, it may be the honer and not the hones. The Norton's are versatile, and by using slurries you can alter the grits of the 1k fairly easily.
I've done lots of major work on the Norton 1k. I don't particularly like the 220 because I find it cuts much too aggresively for my tastes. I will run a thick slurry on the 1k before I go to the 220 or a DMT.
Are you using any pressure? Are you using a variety of strokes to remove metal at a faster rate?
More information would be very helpful here.
Thanks.
The edge of the blade looks rusted and kinda serrated. I've spent time on the stones, expiramenting with different pressures. It was recommended that I try to bread knife the blade to wear the edge down a bit and get rid of the rough edge, but that will eat up my stone.Quote:
Originally Posted by ace
I've varied the pressure from light to firm, but not mashing the blade into the stone. I think I'll do a video tonight and link it, might be easier than trying to explain. Would that be helpful?Quote:
Originally Posted by Maxi
I don't think you should breadknife. You're in for serious honing pain if you do too much.
Hone with with spine off the stone at a 45 degree angle. get the gunk off the edge. Drop to three layers of tap, then two, then one. Then set the bevel properly.
That's my advice.
Thanks for the tip. I'll try it tonight.Quote:
Originally Posted by Maxi
On a side note, another question.
I heard that when honing you want to keep going till the lines that appear on the bevel dissapear. Once the lines are smoothed or polished away then it's okay to move to the next stone and repeat, not moving off each stone till the lines are gone. Not sure how sound this is, but is that a good idea?
The scratch pattern needs to be even, it will never be gone...
When you look at the bevel under Magnification you look to make sure that the pattern is even from the bevel to the edge, don't get to hung up on the bevel though it is the edge and how it feels that is important... The scratch pattern is good for finding spots you are missing, a Black magic maker also helps
On top of the other replies: if your blade is crooked, then no amount of honing is going to give you a nice even bevel.Quote:
Originally Posted by salazch
+1 but that doesn't mean it cannot be sharpened to shave ready. Just that it will have an uneven bevel.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bruno
Also if the edge is rusty you won't be able to accomplish much until you hone past the rust to good metal.
Sorry if this is a bit off the OP and not trying to hijack this so feel free to move if need be.....but.......Quote:
Originally Posted by Maxi
Maxi, what's the thought/why use slurry on the 1k drop DOWN to a 220 or DMT to return to the 1k (I assume) can the same not be achieved by diluting the slurry on the 1k? or is there an added advantage to starting with a slurried 1k then going lower as opposed to just starting lower?
I think what he meant is that he tries a heavily slurried 1k to see if that will work before resorting to coarser stones.
Oh, sorry....I should have clarified.
Some guys look at the edge and their stones, and start at the 220.
I don't like the Norton 220. I look at the 1k and try it, with or without slurry.
What I meant was "I use the 1k, and a the 1k with slurry (add emphasis in voice here) BBBBEEEEFFFOOORRREEE I even LOOK at the 220."
Cool thanks for the clarification! This make TOTAL sense!!Quote:
Originally Posted by Maxi
I've used the 220 , but I only use it if the blade needs some serious metal removal . No matter how lightly I hone on the 220 , the edge is always rough as a corn cob .
Others are doing a good job advising you, and I won't add anything about your razor. However, in the future when you do need to breadknife, I suggest you use a plain old Ace Hardware rough grit whetstone. Most often, they carry a two grit Norton whetstone, the type used to sharpen axes and hoes. And, yes, your blade will cut grooves into the whetstone. But, at $10... who cares! Use it for awhile, and then buy another one.Quote:
Originally Posted by salazch
When breadknifing, alter the direction of your blade often, and the whetstone will last longer. But, don't make the mistake of continuing to use the whetstone after it is no longer flat.
Thanks for the help guys. Gonna give it a try this weekend.
I'm still struggling with how much pressure to use when setting the bevel though.
That depends on how much work you have to do, IMO.
If the bevel is "relatively close", them maybe you can get away with very little pressure. If you're just coming off the buffers and your edge looks like a U instead of a V....heavy pressure.
Evaluate your edge with your thumbpad or thumb nail before you begin. Those to things are valuable tools.
While we're in the topic of nortons, I can't seem to get my 8k completely flat. I make a grid and use the flattening stone that came with the kit but it's still not evenly taking off the grid. Does anybody have problems with the flattening stone that comes with the kit. I'm sure I just need to lap it for a while longer. If I do end up wanting to try a different stone for lapping, what's a good stone to get? I see a lot of people using DMT's.
The Norton Flattenin stone....ah yes.....IIRC, I had to flatten my flattening stone before I could flatten any of my other stones. After a long time, everything was flat! :):)
Time is money: and a DMT D8C (325 grit) will save you a lot of time! They are wonderful.
I am by no means an expert on honing, but I can give you two tips that have helped me no end. First, if you try the magic marker trick, use a red marker pen, not black. When you are looking at the edge very closely black can be very hard to distinguish against the bright fresh steel. Red marker stands out really well.
Second, of all the various ways to test the I find that just looking at the edge under a cheap usb microscope works best for me. If the bevel isn't set it is plain to see.
Good luck with your honing. It is so satisfying shaving with a razor that you have honed yourself.
yes the norton flattening stone needs to be flattened more frequently than it is worth. get the dmt d8c (325 grit) plate much easier. but since you have the norton get a granite or marble tile 12x12 and some coarse wet dry sandpaper and lap it flat. if the flattening stone is not flat no amount of lapping with it will make another stone flatQuote:
Originally Posted by salazch
I don't have one of the Norton flattening stones, so I can't state this with 100% certainty, but I think they're pretty slow. Your flattening stone may already be flat enough, it'll just take a while to lap the 8k side. IIRC, it took me nearly 30 minutes with the DMT325 to get mine flat. You might be in for a couple of hours with the norton flattener.