- Joined
- Jun 4, 2010
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- 6,642
My new Norton India stone and some observations.
Recently purchased a Norton India stone - the only AlumOx combination stones I owned were all cheapos that would shed grit and constantly need to be brushed/wiped off to keep the chunks from ruining my edge. Despite his I get some pretty good edges from them and decided to spend the 20.00 for the oft recommended India stone. I sharpened two knives on it - one per side to see what the edges would look like. Prior to any use I lapped the fine side with 220 grit SiC lapping compound and the coarse side with 120 grit compound - also rounded the corner off one edge on both sides so I can do recurve profiles. The coarse knife is a BK11 using 1095 CroVan and the fine knife is a hand- converted convexed TOPS C.A.T.
I used dish soap and water for lubricant. Stropped the coarse edge on 220SiC followed by a few swipes on black emery compound, the fine edge was stropped on black emery followed by a few swipes on Flexcut Gold.
Pics range from 160 to 640 to 1600
The coarse edge can just crosscut newspaper with a few hitches, and can easily cut with the grain. Will shave armhair but not facial stubble. It could just cut pushcut a pierced papertowel (per the Ankerson challenge - now one of my favorite "quick" edge tests).
The fine edge can crosscut phonebook paper with hardly a whisper, can just treetop leghair, and easily shave armhair and facial stubble. Would easily pushcut a pierced papertowel.
Without espousing coarse or fine, its easy to see how these edges are going to cut differently and why some edge strategies are much better than others depending upon whats to be cut. The notion that a coarse edge equals a dull edge just doesn't hold up.
Overall I really like the edges I was able to get from this stone - I have to agree with so many forumites who rate this as the "one" stone if they could only have one. Neither side sheds grit, in fact based on my efforts to lap this stone I'd have to rate it as one tough cookie. Dishing or loose grit will not be an issue. As with my other AlumOx stones, it is a bit tougher to remove the burr compared to diamonds or waterstones, but it has advantages over both - it can be shaped to sharpen hawkbills and recurves, and it requires no soaking or repeated lapping to keep it flat. I'd recommend this as a good buy for anyone starting out, or anyone looking to get a combination stone for their collection.
As a side thought, its entirely possible that one could further lap these sides down to get an even more refined edge - I was able to do so with a cheap stone lapped with a coarse and fine diamond stone respectively and the edge was clearly more refined. Considering the toughness of the Norton India, I suspect such a lapping would produce long-lasting changes to the stones character - I might do just this and make a follow-up post.
Recently purchased a Norton India stone - the only AlumOx combination stones I owned were all cheapos that would shed grit and constantly need to be brushed/wiped off to keep the chunks from ruining my edge. Despite his I get some pretty good edges from them and decided to spend the 20.00 for the oft recommended India stone. I sharpened two knives on it - one per side to see what the edges would look like. Prior to any use I lapped the fine side with 220 grit SiC lapping compound and the coarse side with 120 grit compound - also rounded the corner off one edge on both sides so I can do recurve profiles. The coarse knife is a BK11 using 1095 CroVan and the fine knife is a hand- converted convexed TOPS C.A.T.
I used dish soap and water for lubricant. Stropped the coarse edge on 220SiC followed by a few swipes on black emery compound, the fine edge was stropped on black emery followed by a few swipes on Flexcut Gold.
Pics range from 160 to 640 to 1600
The coarse edge can just crosscut newspaper with a few hitches, and can easily cut with the grain. Will shave armhair but not facial stubble. It could just cut pushcut a pierced papertowel (per the Ankerson challenge - now one of my favorite "quick" edge tests).
The fine edge can crosscut phonebook paper with hardly a whisper, can just treetop leghair, and easily shave armhair and facial stubble. Would easily pushcut a pierced papertowel.
Without espousing coarse or fine, its easy to see how these edges are going to cut differently and why some edge strategies are much better than others depending upon whats to be cut. The notion that a coarse edge equals a dull edge just doesn't hold up.
Overall I really like the edges I was able to get from this stone - I have to agree with so many forumites who rate this as the "one" stone if they could only have one. Neither side sheds grit, in fact based on my efforts to lap this stone I'd have to rate it as one tough cookie. Dishing or loose grit will not be an issue. As with my other AlumOx stones, it is a bit tougher to remove the burr compared to diamonds or waterstones, but it has advantages over both - it can be shaped to sharpen hawkbills and recurves, and it requires no soaking or repeated lapping to keep it flat. I'd recommend this as a good buy for anyone starting out, or anyone looking to get a combination stone for their collection.
As a side thought, its entirely possible that one could further lap these sides down to get an even more refined edge - I was able to do so with a cheap stone lapped with a coarse and fine diamond stone respectively and the edge was clearly more refined. Considering the toughness of the Norton India, I suspect such a lapping would produce long-lasting changes to the stones character - I might do just this and make a follow-up post.
