Norton Waterstone Dulling Edges?

M

Mephtyrm

Joined
Jan 23, 2011
Messages
245
Hi guys I just bought a Norton 1000/4000 waterstone and I cannot for the life of me get a sharp edge.
I can get a hair shaving sharp edge easily with diamonds and Spyderco Ceramic stones, but when I try on the waterstone all it does is make it duller.
I've read AFTER buying it that perhaps they're not highly thought of, which is my fault I understand but this stone literally catches edges and dulls them very fast!
I've soaked it 30 minutes.
Do I need to flatten? Do I literally next to no pressure when making passes?
 
You should be using a 1000/4000 for maintenance and finishing. If you are "catching" the edge then you are cutting into the stone at too high of an angle. The bevel should already be set on a lower grit stone before you get to 1000, and so you should only be refining that existing edge.

I am not sure what you are doing wrong. I can sharpen well enough on some pretty crappy water stones, so I think it may be more your technique than the stones. If you are used to sharpening on a hard surface like ceramic or diamonds, it takes a while to get used to using softer water stones.

If you like the feel of a hard stone, Shapton water stones are a good option.
 
Made a video of me sharpening on 400 grit diamond then attempting to refine on the 4000 grit side. Doesn't seem to actually refine it at all actually.
[video=youtube;CuNL_jy-Gtc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuNL_jy-Gtc[/video]
 
I have heard that newer production Norton stones are quite a bit rougher on the top and after flattening/truing and removing some of the top layer they smooth out. My 1k/4k smoothed out considerably after removing some stone.
 
I still use them several times a week and get shaving sharp edges off of them. They work well enough. Just have to focus on your fundamentals I would guess

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk
 
Make sure the stone is flat.

Use light pressure and emphasize the trailing component if you use a scrubbing pass.

If not, use them edge trailing only with a few light leading passes to deburr.

Use them with just enough of a soak to prevent loading, or if thoroughly saturated rinse the surface often.

I had this problem initially with my Nortons - being a relatively soft stone they are prone to dishing if you work them in one spot - move around on the surface as much as your technique will allow. Using trailing pass and/or emphasizing the trailing component will give best results when finishing on them.

Also, keep in mind the Norton 4k is still a fairly rough stone in some respects compared to other Japanese manufactured waterstones. And, in common with a lot of the softer stones it is meant to be used in a complete progression to the 8k - the soft stones are meant to get you to the finishing stone quickly with less burring. As a stand alone edge it is more challenging to use, though still entirely possible.

Final stropping on plain paper over a dry stone can really bring the edge up a few notches.

If using on HSS or other high carbide steels these stones will not work so well as other options.
 
Its hard to see what might be going wrong in the video since we can't see the knife on the stone. Also I feel 400 to 4000 is a pretty big jump especially 400 grit diamond since typically diamond is more aggressive and leaves deeper scratches. Are you forming a burr at 4000? I usually use the burr method as a gauge of when to move on or stop.
 
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