Quarter-stones question.

[mrchilli]

Hi all,

I recently received my Norton Quarter-stones (and the Chinese 12k) from Larry.

Yesterday I tried them out, following the instructions off a few Youtube vids (albeit using full-size stones). Hmmm...not a great success - lots of pulling and tugging. There are a few nicks and bumps on my leather strop...would that make a big difference?

Anyway, if anyone has any advice they could give me about using the stones that would be great as I'm 100% sure it's 'operator error'...LOL

Also, would the Norton lapping stone be OK to lap a barbers hone?

Thanks in advance!

Phil

 

[jpcwon]

If you're using the little Nortons from Whippeddog, then I would recommend trying small circles (or ellipses) instead of x-strokes. Doing x strokes on a small hone is kind of tricky (at least for me), so the use of circles really helps to concentrate your honing on every part of the edge and to keep the razor flat on the hone at all times...I find myself using small circles when honing on my coticule bouts; definitely makes the process a bit easier.

YMMV as always...

 

[Hineas]

I'm in the same boat. Just tried my first hone ever last night on the quarter stones, and got a lot of tugging. At least it cut hair, so I consider that a partial success!

 

[global_dev]

keep at it guys and the chinese hone takes quite a bit of strokes to make any improvement.. which in itself offers NOT a lot of room for error by accidental movements…
keep practicing..

 

[mrchilli]

I'm in the same boat. Just tried my first hone ever last night on the quarter stones, and got a lot of tugging. At least it cut hair, so I consider that a partial success!

Yet another journey begins...lol

Let me know how you get on! Any great discoveries, get in touch...I'll do the same!

 

[mrchilli]

keep at it guys and the chinese hone takes quite a bit of strokes to make any improvement.. which in itself offers a lot of room for error by accidental movements…
keep practicing..

Hi Jon,

I'm using the smaller Chinese hone and doing the 'circles' as well a s a few x-strokes. How many circles/strokes would you recommend as a starting point?

Cheers,

Phil

 

[global_dev]

Hi Jon,

I'm using the smaller Chinese hone and doing the 'circles' as well a s a few x-strokes. How many circles/strokes would you recommend as a starting point?

Cheers,

Phil

Phil, i left out the word NOT.. i have seen people says hundreds, but experience with it is apparently and definitely a YMMV, since the CNATS, PHUGS, PHIGS, C12K (all interchangeable terms ) are all over the place. they are hard and slow finishers. some think the CNAT is as low as 6K and some say 12K+. depends on the stone.. either will give a nice polish to a well honed edge.

My experience with mine has been maybe about a hundred strokes, and i am not 100% sure it was too many or not enough. it may depend on how glass like the surface it or just how good it is.. just remember not to be impatient with it. it is known to be slow, but an okay finisher.. try out sets of 50 and see if there any improvements each time.. good luck.

i have tried to see if tehre is any observable differnce based on whether i've lapped it at DMT C, F, EF levels, 1K & 2K W/D and spyderco UF as well as used a jnat nakayama kiita nagura on it and mine doesn't seem to get too glassy and i can't really tell a huge difference, perhaps i haven't tried it enough at each stage.. but good luck. it's cheap enough to mess around with.

did yours come with a slurry stone?

 

[mrchilli]

Phil, i left out the word NOT.. i have seen people says hundreds, but experience with it is apparently and definitely a YMMV, since the CNATS, PHUGS, PHIGS, C12K (all interchangeable terms ) are all over the place. they are hard and slow finishers. some think the CNAT is as low as 6K and some say 12K+. depends on the stone.. either will give a nice polish to a well honed edge.

My experience with mine has been maybe about a hundred strokes, and i am not 100% sure it was too many or not enough. it may depend on how glass like the surface it or just how good it is.. just remember not to be impatient with it. it is known to be slow, but an okay finisher.. try out sets of 50 and see if there any improvements each time.. good luck.

i have tried to see if tehre is any observable differnce based on whether i've lapped it at DMT C, F, EF levels, 1K & 2K W/D and spyderco UF as well as used a jnat nakayama kiita nagura on it and mine doesn't seem to get too glassy and i can't really tell a huge difference, perhaps i haven't tried it enough at each stage.. but good luck. it's cheap enough to mess around with.

did yours come with a slurry stone?

Thanks again. I'll try the sets of 50 and see how it goes. I'll report back on that!

It didn't come with a slurry stone.

 

[mrchilli]

Reporting back...

Hmmmph!

No luck as yet...

 

[Bayamontate]

Multiply your stroke count by 4 and you should be cool.

 

[buca3152]

+1 on multiply by 4! I saw the quarter hones on wd. Didnt seem worth it to me. LOTS of circles.

 

[buca3152]

Half a hone the long way would work better IMO.

 

[mrchilli]

After a few more unsuccessful attempts, last night I tried a different approach (than just using circles on the 4k, 8k then 12k)..

I reset the bevel on my Green Lizard and Kropp using the Norton 1k, then continued with the 4k, 8k and finally Chinese 12k. I made a fine slurry on all stones with the lapping stone - this really seemed to help.

I noticed that the Chinese 12k felt more abrasive than the Norton 8k, so I lapped it - MUCH smoother!

50 laps on the leather strop.


I didn't spend a great deal of time on it - just enough to see if it was making a difference. Tried a test shave at about 11pm and a great improvement was noticed!

Feeling that I was heading in the right direction, I did the same thing this morning, spending a bit more time on it. This morning's shave was very good - success!!!! I've since given both razors 40 laps on each side of the balsa and have cleaned up the scratches (and oiled) my leather strop. Really looking forward to tomorrow's shave!

 

[global_dev]

Great!