Norton India stone review w/ pics

Yes, the Norton is the current model, but apparently not made in the US anymore. Some of our conversation was about older Norton India stones made in the US. They can be found sometimes on Ebay, but are often the same or higher price than the new stones.

I am not sure who makes the generic India stone you listed. you might call Sharpening Supplies and ask.
 
If you are hunting for an older Norton India stone, say on the bay, i recommend that you look for one that is labeled "Norton Abrasives". Especially the ones that were made by Behr-Manning in Troy New York. They wear like stone hard Arkansas stones.
 
Just for your knives at home the 2X8" size will take you a long way. Today's Norton IB8 are made in Mexico and in my experience they seem more coarse on the fine side and take longer to break in. If you can get the earlier Norton made in NY. do so. A crystolon stone is not as fine
as the India. It will cut harder and more complex steels quicker. And it wears more quickly. Still, a long life. I have both is several sizes. But
one will do it. DM
 
Balog, I think the one you give a link to is a Norton stone. Those found at hardware stores are also likely made by Norton (St. Gobain).
 
These conversations have prompted me to pull out and compare some of my Norton India Stones.

This picture is of four Norton India combination stones. They are all Course/Fine. In order to compare them i decided to flatten and clean them. Here they are mid process:

upload_2017-9-16_17-32-6.jpeg

After cleaning, this is the side angle:
upload_2017-9-16_17-32-49.jpeg

and the face view:

upload_2017-9-16_17-33-17.jpeg

from the bottom (with the oldest on the bottom): Three Norton Abrasives made in Troy, and the last is just marked Norton made in USA. All are India Combination stones and we are looking at the fine side.

All four are made differently. The color, texture and grit is different for each. The one on the bottom, is substantially finer than the others, being about the grit of a soft Arkansas. It is the only one that I would rate a potential finishing stone. All of the others are too coarse to be finishing stones even for routine kitchen knife work, IMHO.

If someone needs one, i can sell either or both of the top two.
 
Ray, maybe they have different binders through the years and break in different. Thanks for the offer. I sent you mail. DM
 
If you don't mind I'll also be emailing Raymond3, I don't have any freehand stones and I'd love to try one out. This seems more trustworthy than an ebay listing. :)
 
Ray, what grit did you clean them with? I see a plastic bag of grit. DM
 
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