Thread: Norton 8k shave ready?

Take Glen up on his gracious offer, then keep the blade as a reference blade for a "goal".

Thanks Glen! I'll send it out this week.

It would be very helpful to have you evaluate my progress.

Thanks again for all the helpful responses guys!

Originally Posted by ZeroCool

So, I've purchased a few razors from SRD (Honed by Lynn) and had several restores Honed by Glenn. Am I spinning my wheels chasing the same quality edge from my Norton 4/8?

I'm still a beginner when it comes to the hones so I know magic isn't going to happen just wondering if you hone pros are able to get a tight edge off these stones?

Mind you, I've only got the norton set and a swaty. Haven't stepping up any higher yet.

I believe I'm spoiled by the high quality edges these pros have given me.

I have two years experience and can't. The two years is underlined because maybe with additional experience I will be able to do so.

What I do is add a 12000 grit Chinese stone (from a quarry in Guanxi province which is known for its uniform consistency) after I use the Norton 4000/8000. Why? Because the first thing I read about straight razor shaving was written by someone who uses it. (Is Straight Razor Shaving for You? - Yahoo! Voices - voices.yahoo.com)

A few months ago I was frustrated because I honed a couple vintage of razors I bought and they still didn't give me a good shave. Then Ron at Star Shaving replied that I probably had metal residue on the blades causing poor results and irritation. I got two balsa strops, one covered with Chromium Oxide, and another covered with diamond slurry spray. His instructions after I used the stones were to do 25-35 laps with each of the balsa strops (in the same direction that you go with leather strops) followed by 85-100 laps with a regular leather strop.

That's the combo that gives me optimum shaves now. Perhaps that isn't the best way to do it but with my level of experience this gets the job done.

I'm thinking that once I get a razor the way I want it, re-honing won't require as much effort. I posted this so that you could get some perspective from a relative newcomer that can't (or can't yet) get the job done the way more experienced people can. I want you to know that this is a learning process and to not give up if you don't get the results you want following instructions to the letter. This is something I had to learn, that I had to not be afraid to experiment around a little. Another thing I used was a little $15 Radio Shack 100X AAA battery-powered microscope to look at the edges.

I have been getting very nice results with the 8k on a light slurry for 40 cirlces and 15 x strokes then followed by water only and no pressure.

Originally Posted by alb1981

I have been getting very nice results with the 8k on a light slurry for 40 cirlces and 15 x strokes then followed by water only and no pressure.

What I did for my first honing "success". Worked so well I stuck with it.

while i don't have lots of experiance with my norton 4k/8k, due to using coticules mainly , i have shaved of 8k norton enough to say the 8k norton defanatley gives a very nice shave. i'm very fussy when it comes to a shave ready razor . So yes you will get a shave ready smooth and comfy edge . where i strugled was not doing enough work on the 8k. i have found once bevel is set it takes me from 60 to 120 nice x strokes on the 4k, I usauly use the tpt and move to 8k when the tpt maxes out. i'll then move to 8k for 20 x strokes and gently test tpt, i move of 8k when the tpt is absalutley like sticky toffy... then i'll strop linen /leather and shave , the number of laps can vary from 20 to 100 laps nice gentle one s and checking every 10 laps . so for me it was just working more on 8k if the shave test was just not quite there . i'd do the same on the coticule on water no slurry ..

I think your best bet is to get 4k edge shaving leg hair or some hair easily and efortlessly then hit the 8k norton

I've been getting leg and arm hair to pop fairly easy off the 1k, I think my deficiency lies in the 4/8 steps.

Are you shaving the hair mid shaft or at the skin...there is a huge difference. If you can't pop hairs mid shaft off the 4k, the blade needs more work.

I've only been able to pop hairs at the skin level...I say that but do occasionally get some hairs to pop mid (rare).

The 8k Norton is a shave-ready hone, if you use some paste afterwards than even more. You should get a very nice shave off the 8k, but don't expect it to be the same as Lynns or Glens edges, but heck, you could have all hones in the world, and even so it would take a considerable amount of practice to match the results of the above gentleman

So in the end: stick with your 8k, you until you will be happy with it. You will be, it just takes some skill, paractice, and patience.