I bought an Norton india stone and have some questions

T

the kid

Joined
May 5, 2008
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I just bought a Norton India Norton stone
(after making this thread 6 months ago :p )

Here is a picture
s2ni9ks.jpg


- I'm not really sure how grit works with these stones, if people talk about (on this forum) about a Norton India stone is this the one (grit wise) they talk about?

- I use it with baby oil, (mineral oil) how much do I need to apply?

- When I'm done, how do I clean it? Wipe of all oil with a paper towel or something? I noticed after using it only once it already has some (metal) marks on it.

- How do I store it, dry or with some oil on it?

- I ve been sharpening my Victorinox Pioneer on it but did not get good results. The edge still looked fairly good (not abused in any way this knife) but the knife could not cut paper any more. Should I start with the dark side of the stone?

Some other maintenance tips are appreciated as well.

Thanks in advance, I like to take care of my stuff and these aren't exactly cheap around these parts.
 
Start with a teaspoon of oil, and add more if it dries up during use. Try to keep the surface wet. When done if there's some embedded metal, put another teaspoon on the surface and let it sit for a minute, then rub well with a fingertip and wipe off with a rag or paper towel.

The stone surface will break in over time and create a much finer edge than it can do brand new. I wouldn't think you'd need the coarse (grey) side to touch up that knife. Be patient and use light pressure.

I made a few videos featuring that stone:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viC7mybM6gk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9NTNakx8Vs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmR4nSTukmE
 
Yes, that's the stone. Yes, use light pressure. As the Victorinox steels are not hard, a good stainless and can get a nice sharp edge. Work on your technique and watch the videos ^. You'll get better.
That stone will last more than your lifetime. DM
 
Norton India single-grit stones come in 3 flavors: Coarse (gray), medium (brown), and fine (orange-ish). The combo stones use the coarse and fine grits. I don't know what the grits are specifically (like 220, 600, etc.) , but they should be the same on all Norton stones, whether single or combo (i.e., the fine side of your combo stone should be the same grit as my fine single-grit stone and so on). I use mineral oil on my stones, too, and as HH said, you just want to keep the surface wet. It should look wet and shiny, but you shouldn't have oil pooling or dripping off the sides. If you get a little too much, just dab up the extra with a paper towel. The Nortons I've purchased have come pre-oiled, but they still were able to soak up a bit extra when new. Once they get well saturated, they don't require re-application as often. When I'm done using mine, I usually put an extra dab of oil (a teaspoon sounds about right) on them, spread it out with my fingers, then dab it up with a paper towel. This "floats" away any residual steel particles. You can leave the stone shiny with oil or wipe it a bit drier, depending upon your preference or how you're gonna store it. My 8x3's came with plastic cases that I keep them in, but you could also just make an aluminum foil tray for yours to sit in when you aren't using it. :thumbup:
 
The fine is 320 grit, the coarse is 120 grit and the medium is like 240 grit. Norton offers a well made plastic box to store and use the stone. It even has short rubber legs that grips a counter top well. I think these run 8-9$ here in the USA. Even so, one could build a fine box for this stone using scrap 1X4" boards, some time and woodworking know how. If going this route I'd give it a simple paint or linseed oil finish.
Then use a leather strap or dog collar to hold the lid on for transporting. Then you'd have a custom box that people would be impressed with before you opened it. DM
 
I use enough oil so that it pools. My box has a reservoir that catches this run off under the stone. DM
 
Thanks guys, this is good information. I´m gonna look into a box of some kind, right now I have it wrapped in a piece of cloth. :thumbup:

My next thread is going to be how to sharpen step 1 because I´m getting horrible results :o
 
I haven't watched those video's in particular but in general HeavyHanded makes some excellent video's I HIGHLY recommend watching his video's if you haven't especially if he is covering the same stone your using. I can thank him and his video's for helping me get my knives a whole lot sharper along with other members here for helping me.

I can also recommend watching jdavis882, he makes some excellent video's as well. He may be using far more extensive set of equipment than you generally but the concept is still the same and he even does a more bare bones setup just to prove a point that everything he has isn't required.
[video]https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB95E1C271CE6654B[/video]

Here is another one from I believe another forum member here.
[video=youtube;8VPCvd5hUVQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VPCvd5hUVQ[/video]
 
Last edited:
Bob6794 said:
I haven't watched those video's in particular but in general HeavyHanded makes some excellent video's I HIGHLY recommend watching his video's if you haven't especially if he is covering the same stone your using. I can thank him and his video's for helping me get my knives a whole lot sharper along with other members here for helping me.

I can also recommend watching jdavis882, he makes some excellent video's as well. He may be using far more extensive set of equipment than you generally but the concept is still the same and he even does a more bare bones setup just to prove a point that everything he has isn't required.
[video]https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB95E1C271CE6654B[/video]

Here is another one from I believe another forum member here.
[video=youtube;8VPCvd5hUVQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VPCvd5hUVQ[/video]
Click to expand...

That's one of Knifenut's - his technique is unreal.
 
I thought that was knifenut but I wasn't positive. I wish I watched his video and yours when I first started out it would have saved me a lot of headaches. I adopted a few things from watching your videos than having just watched that video noticed I learned to do a few of the things he did the hard way.
 
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