My first hone

I found a Duro hone at an antique mall last weekend. I finally got around to lapping it. I followed the instructions found over at SRP, using 320, then 1000 grit wet/dry sandpaper to get it flat and smooth.

Took my Boker SS St. Louis to it for five laps, then to my strop.

We'll see how it shaves tomorrow. Looking forward to it as I missed my str8 shave this morning due to work. I also get to lather up with the new TSD SOTQ, B2

 

Cool! I am looking forward to your report.

I am finishing a couple of brushes and have been looking for 1000 grip paper, I am coming up empty at Lowes and Walmart. Where did you get yours?

 

You can try Autozone or some place like that.

 

Yup. Got mine at Pep Boys.

 

Glen would be proud. I managed not to booger up the edge he put on it and actually did pretty good. I was able to tell the difference with this morning's shave - much better.

 

Sweet Steve! I'm going to be getting the Norton set here soon and I hope I have good luck. I was planning on brushing up on the videos that Glen made and then giving it a go.

 

You'll be fine. Just go slow and pay attention to what you're doing. :happy088

 

Nice find Steve!

I love my little barber's hone for touch ups.

I still haven't mastered the Norton 4k/8k that I got for Christmas. I'm not convinced that I'm getting it adequately lapped with the sandpaper/countertop method. Looking at getting a DMT 8 sometime in the future.

 

Hi John!

 

Use a grid method. Draw some horizontal and vertical lines on the the Norton and lap until all the lines are gone. Should get it flat enough for razor sharpening at that point. It does take a while with sandpaper so be patient.

 

Yup. That's how I did it. Fortunately mine wasn't worn too bad. Only took about 15 minutes.

 

I did that.

I've read in a few places that the top 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch of those Nortons aren't great and should be lapped off. I'm wearing out the wet/dry sandpaper too fast to accomplish this, so I'm waiting for a lapping stone.

If this isn't true then I just really suck at honing. I'll blame it on the equipment for as long as I can.

 

Hey Steve! Good to see ya!

 

An 8th to quarter inch bad?!?! That's a LOT of stone to take down.

 

Not necessarily bad, just not as good as what lies beneath.

It's just what I've read. There maybe absolutely no truth to it. Could be just guys making excuses, but I think it was some pretty experienced guys that said it. Though, it's been a while since I read it.

 

It really varies with the Norton 4k that you have, Norton 4k stones have been made in three different places over the last few years..

First the USA and required nothing other then a grid lapping
Next the change to Mexico and these require extensive lapping to get rid of the grittiness
Next the Mexican ones got a bit more consistent and required a bit less lapping..
Then they made them in Italy and these required only a bit of lapping to get rid of the grittiness

So you will hear various recommendations for lapping them...

The simple solution is Lap it twice with the grid lines, if it feels gritty then lap it a few more times and try again. keep lapping until it feels smooth..

The problem is if yer a new honer you don't know if it "Feels" gritty hehehe ain't that the way this straight razor BS always is happy102

edit: 1/16 to 1/8 inch is the most lapping I have heard about....

 

Thanks for the clairfication Glen! Like I said, it's been a while since I read it.

Probably more user error than anything else, but I'm sticking to my story.

 

The top portion of the 4K side of the 4k/8k combo stones have been fairly gritty over the stones I have seen. My first one was lapped using a grid method, but I didn't have to take off an 1/8". Once you get to a certain point you will notice when the "gritty" feeling stops. Personally, I lap my hones with a DMT lapping plate, but if you are honing only your own razors, then you don't probably will not be lapping hones as often and would be cheaper with the sandpaper.