Nortons vs. Arkansas, having an issue

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Tacticaltimmy12

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Jun 7, 2015
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I have the Norton 220/1K, 4k/8k set and I also have a set of Arkansas stones ranging from soft to black. I don't know what it is, but I can get much sharper edges on my Arkansas stones than I can with my Nortons. I've lapped the Nortons so they're flat, and I use the same exact technique as I do with my Arkansas stones. But for some reason I don't get the same results.
Could it be that the Nortons are just not the best quality? I've seen other guys get amazing results using water stones, so do I need maybe a different brand or something?

Christian
 
Norton waterstones are fairly soft, you should finish with a trailing pass after the edge has been deburred. Just a few additional passes

They also run to the low end of the scale, so a Norton 1k is closer to other maker's 800, the Norton 4k closer to other's 2k.

Lastly, many waterstones are made to work as a set and the Norton especially so in my opinion. If you finish on the 8k, either with a microbevel or at the same set-up angle the edge should be very refined. Stopping at the 1k or 4k should leave you with a sharp but toothy edge, much more so than the edge from an Arkansas.

They are a different sort of animal, a bit of tinkering is going to be needed when going from hard fixed abrasives to softer stones. On mine I often skip the 4k entirely and do a set-up on the 1k and microbevel on the 8k. If you restrict yourself to just a few passes on the 8k the edge stays very catchy, the more passes on the 8k the more refined it will cut. I've also found that if the edge is burr free off the 1k or 4k, I can go right to trailing passes on the 8k and it will refine without creating a new burr (light pressure!).
 
HeavyHanded said:
Norton waterstones are fairly soft, you should finish with a trailing pass after the edge has been deburred. Just a few additional passes

They also run to the low end of the scale, so a Norton 1k is closer to other maker's 800, the Norton 4k closer to other's 2k.

Lastly, many waterstones are made to work as a set and the Norton especially so in my opinion. If you finish on the 8k, either with a microbevel or at the same set-up angle the edge should be very refined. Stopping at the 1k or 4k should leave you with a sharp but toothy edge, much more so than the edge from an Arkansas.

They are a different sort of animal, a bit of tinkering is going to be needed when going from hard fixed abrasives to softer stones. On mine I often skip the 4k entirely and do a set-up on the 1k and microbevel on the 8k. If you restrict yourself to just a few passes on the 8k the edge stays very catchy, the more passes on the 8k the more refined it will cut. I've also found that if the edge is burr free off the 1k or 4k, I can go right to trailing passes on the 8k and it will refine without creating a new burr (light pressure!).
Click to expand...
Thanks for that info. I'll try more trialing passes and see if that helps. It's really weird though, it won't even come close to feeling sharp or shave hair till I'm done with the 8k (although it still cuts paper cleanly off the 1k), but I can shave right off my soft Arkansas. I'll try what you recommended and see if that helps.
 
In my hands, the 1 and 4k create toothy, thin edges. Off the stone they are OK, off the 4k I can get a nice hair shaving edge and if I fidget with it can get just to treetopping. But where they really shine is in setting up the edge with a minimum of burr and doing so quickly so you can do a final refinement with a polishing stone or strop.

But...even when the 1k or 4k edge isn't quite as refined/hair shaving for the supposed grit rating, they draw cut very well and do so for a long time. I suspect this is from creating a toothy edge that is also very burr free compared to more fixed abrasive stones.
 
You should be able to shave with an edge off of even VERY coarse stones if you use appropriate technique. Sounds like you just need to spend some more time experimenting with different methods to get the performance you want. :)
 
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