Breaking in Norton India stone?

[jux t]

Apologize if this has been covered, I searched around but mainly found info on breaking in diamonds. Is there a need to break in Norton India stones? So far I've got by on an old Norton (and some diamond plates) that's probably older than I am, but it is getting to be in rough shape. I have a new Norton IB8 combination stone coming today, and would like to know if I should break it in with inexpensive knives before using it on better blades. Thanks.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Won't take long. Maybe a knife or two, in a reprofiling task or simply grinding new bevels at the existing edge angle.

The main difference you might notice, in using the new stone, is simply that it'll feel somewhat coarser under your fingertips for the first use or two. But the stone will still work very well, based on my own experience with the India IB8 Coarse/Fine bench stone I bought just a couple or three years ago. It'll settle into a steadier, somewhat smoother feel within the first couple of uses, but still cuts the steel very well. These aluminum oxide stones are best-used with simpler mainstream cutlery steels like carbon (1095/CV) or low-to-medium alloyed stainless steels (420HC, 440-series stuff, etc.). Steels with a lot of vanadium carbide content might be better sharpened on diamond hones for best results. And the carbides in those steels will also tend to wear the stone's grit via glazing (polishing/burnishing), which diminishes its ability to cut the steel.

Keep the stone lubricated in use. They're made to be used with oil. That'll keep the stone from getting clogged or glazed too soon, which is the main reason performance might degrade with use.

 

[jux t]

Won't take long. Maybe a knife or two, in a reprofiling task or simply grinding new bevels at the existing edge angle.

The main difference you might notice, in using the new stone, is simply that it'll feel somewhat coarser under your fingertips for the first use or two. But the stone will still work very well, based on my own experience with the India IB8 Coarse/Fine bench stone I bought just a couple or three years ago. It'll settle into a steadier, somewhat smoother feel within the first couple of uses, but still cuts the steel very well. These aluminum oxide stones are best-used with simpler mainstream cutlery steels like carbon (1095/CV) or low-to-medium alloyed stainless steels (420HC, 440-series stuff, etc.). Steels with a lot of vanadium carbide content might be better sharpened on diamond hones for best results. And the carbides in those steels will also tend to wear the stone's grit via glazing (polishing/burnishing), which diminishes its ability to cut the steel.

Keep the stone lubricated in use. They're made to be used with oil. That'll keep the stone from getting clogged or glazed too soon, which is the main reason performance might degrade with use.

Thanks for the info. Any idea if CTS-XHP will cause glazing? Was using my old stone on XHP.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Thanks for the info. Any idea if CTS-XHP will cause glazing? Was using my old stone on XHP.

Should be OK. CTS-XHP is similar to something between 440C and D2. Fairly wear-resistant with a LOT of chromium carbide, which isn't an issue for aluminum oxide stones. But essentially no vanadium carbide, which is much harder than the aluminum oxide grit of the stone and therefore would present issues in sharpening.