Norton Oil Stones

I visited Home Depot yesterday, and sure enough, they don't seem to be stocking the Norton Economy stone anymore, nor the Norton Honing Oil I'd also previously found there. I did notice they are now stocking a couple of DMT hones (single-sided 'Fine' Diafold and a 6" x 2" hone in 'Fine' grit). In my errand-running, I also dropped by ACE and Sears. At ACE, I did still see a 6" x 2" x 1" SiC stone in their display. They seem to have done a little 'reorganizing' in their store, and I didn't see the 8" x 2" x 1" SiC stone that I'd previously picked up there; I did find an aluminum oxide 4" double-sided stone that's an exact size match to the 4" SiC stone I'd previously purchased there. I think they still had a 6" x 2" AlOx stone as well.

At Sears, I DID find the 6" x 2" x 3/4" SiC stone I'd mentioned earlier in this thread, and decided to pick it up to see how it compares to the Norton. In a word, save for the lack of the Norton labelling on the stone (it's packaged as a Sears product), it appears IDENTICAL to the Norton Economy. And best of all, it was flat on both sides. No dishing or crowning or upturned corners, or warping/twisting. Looks like a pretty nice stone. It was priced a bit higher than the Economy stone from HD, at about $9 (and made in Mexico, BTW). I noticed they did carry the same little can of Norton Honing Oil that I'd previously found at HD, BTW.

Back when I'd communicated with Norton (Saint Gobain) about the Norton Economy stone, I'd asked them why it was much less expensive than the seemingly identical 87935 SiC stone they also listed in their catalog at about $20. They commented they weren't sure why, but it was possible they'd underpriced the Norton Economy SiC stone. I'm now worried they might be working to change that, in seeing the Economy stone 'disappear' from store displays all of a sudden. :(


David
 
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Gonna have to check my local HD, I know they had them a few weeks ago.

As a side note, my local ACE has a good lineup of combination stones now from 4" to 8", all of them appear to be SiC. The ones I saw were still made in USA.
 
HeavyHanded said:
Gonna have to check my local HD, I know they had them a few weeks ago.

As a side note, my local ACE has a good lineup of combination stones now from 4" to 8", all of them appear to be SiC. The ones I saw were still made in USA.
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Within the last few weeks, I'd also seen the Norton Economy at the HD store, so the sudden change in stock was a surprise. I may have to look around at some of the other ACE stores in my area to see if their stock is similar to what I'd gotten used to seeing at my most-frequented ACE outlet. Might've just visited them on a bad day, when they were in need of replenishing some stuff. I'd also looked to see if they still carried some Flitz polish and hoping to pick up a card scraper, both of which I'd previously seen there; no luck with either of those either. Left the store feeling a little disillusioned after that visit.


David
 
I bought a 220/1000 grit combination Norton waterstone about six years ago now. It's so soft it dishes out requiring frequent flattening. I've removed so much of it that it's now about a 1/4" thick. The 220 side is maybe 1/16" thick.

My next purchase are going to be diamond or glass stones. I don't need the stone dishing out and changing angles on me while sharpening. Not to dissuade people from using waterstones but I think it's a pretty big thing people just overlook or act as if it can be easily corrected. Sure it can be easily corrected, but easy is relative and you should decide if you want to sped your efforts on the knife edge or wearing out high and low spots on your waterstone.
 
The waterstones will dish rapidly compared to other stone types. A combination SiC stone will also dish out if ground in one area, though a bit slower than most waterstones. Is a good idea whatever the stone type to move around on the surface as much as one's technique will allow. This spreads the swarf/broken abrasive deposit around and minimizes plugging and glazing in high use areas, as well as minimizing dishing.

Is best to emphasize a trailing pass on softer waterstones, or even to use only a trailing pass in some cases - the Nortons being a good candidate for this. This definitely minimizes dishing and gouging and takes advantage of what these stones do well - remove metal quickly with a minimum of burr formation. I've adopted a method of doing all my heavy grinding on the ends and the finesse work in the center. Most of my stones stay flat with little need for lapping, and in fact will sometimes develop a slight loaf shape curve - the opposite of dishing.
 
I checked my local Home Depot for the Norton Economy stone but no luck. They only had a couple of DMT's there. That's a bummer as I wanted the SiC stone.
 
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