Chopped up my Nortons

[mrmaroon]

I always hold my hones in my hand and that 8X3 norton was killing my arm:scared: So I cut it into 3 chunks, a 2X8', a 1X6 and a 1X2 slurry. For some reason, I am getting a lot better results with the smaller width. I think it might be that some blades don't sit perfectly flat across a 3 inch hone, but do on a 2 or 1 inch. Regardless, it has helped me out a lot. I used a hacksaw and went through 4 blades to cut through it:

I almost would say I reccomend doing this, but there is some danger involved and of course you can't undo it. Once you use a 2.5-3 inch wide stone for long enough and go back to a 2 incher, the difference is profound. It is so much more managable.

 

[BlueDun]

I think your findings do make sense.
My experience is also that a wide hone does not necessarily facilitate reaching a keen edge. One could think so but first there are there many blades that have a even so slighly warp or bend. In order to compensate for that one would constantly need to change angle/pressure during strokes. Second, as the complete blade sits on the hone you have the longest possible lever along the complete distance. Even slight imperfections in guiding the blade will result in significatn pressure differences along the blade.
And third (and some razor gurus would accuse me of committing heresy now) is pressure magnitude. The mantra goes "the slightest possible pressure". Well, as it was made clear on this site too that is not always the best way. There are a couple of conceivable reasons why in some occasisons more pressure will be appropriate. I postulate that narrower hones, all else being equal, result in a higher pressure on the edge. And that might be the third reason why you get better reasults.

Cheers
BlueDun

 

[garyhaywood]

I must say 2" wide or less is my favourite. 8x3 i just use the very last inch and a half to 2" as most blades won't sit flat.

 

[mrmaroon]

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I was wondering how you would react gary, they were your Nortons I figured you would ream my block on that one hehe.