Norton Economy Stones, 8"(AlO) and 6"(SiC)

After gifting my old Norton Economy 6" SiC stone to a friend, I decided to get a new one. I like to support local businesses as much as possible, but the hardware store I originally purchased my Norton Economy 6" SiC stone was out of them due to the supply issues everyone is currently having. I bought mine on Amazon and was pleasantly surprised to see that it was just like the Craftsman 6" stone I had bought from Sears years ago when they were still open. The Craftsman 6" stone was just like a Norton Crystolon stone, just shorter and thinner. The Norton Economy 6" SiC stone I had purchased was just like that, except branded as a Norton Economy UBP6. A great stone to have, and since there had been so many quality issues with the original batches of the Norton Economy 6" SiC stones(including mind), it is great to the quality top-notch now. Nothing remarkable otherwise, it is just a smaller, thinner version of the famous Norton Crystolon stone. As far as the Norton Economy 8" AlO stone, it is just a thinner version of the Norton Quickcut 8" AlO stone, and they both have the same product code (not the SKU#, that is different) which is UPB8. The 8" Economy and Quickcut are more like a hardware store stone, one that sheds grit(and is fine to use with water for lubrication) vs in the Norton India AlO stone, which has a hard, vitrified bonder. I would recommend any of these stones for sharpening and add the Norton India stones or the Wayne Goddard stones (Norton M Crystolon/F India) for everyday sharpening.

[www.nortonabrasives.com]


[www.nortonabrasives.com]


[www.nortonabrasives.com]




Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/22/2022 04:05AM by jasonstone20.

I'm honestly at that point now where i just use diamonds for almost everything if i can..

i use my norton on the kitchen knives.. they are soft

Yesterday I too went to the hardware store and found a small sharpening stone simply labeled "corundum, double sided coarse/fine", bought it just to try out. Unfortunately, no grit ratings to speak of. After a little bit of sharpening I concluded this little inexpensive stones was as good as a Crystolon C/F, if not better grinding very fast on the coarse side and leaving a very sharp edge off the fine side (effortlessly slicing paper towel, similar to a 600 grit diamond finish)
Sometimes those cheap hardware store sharpening stones perform horribly, sometimes they bring crazy value, this was 5€ and I'll definitely buy spares.

cKc,
I was going to just use diamonds also, like how Joe Calton's does his edge until I watched these:

Quote
Millscale
Yesterday I too went to the hardware store and found a small sharpening stone simply labeled "corundum, double sided coarse/fine", bought it just to try out. Unfortunately, no grit ratings to speak of. After a little bit of sharpening I concluded this little inexpensive stones was as good as a Crystolon C/F, if not better grinding very fast on the coarse side and leaving a very sharp edge off the fine side (effortlessly slicing paper towel, similar to a 600 grit diamond finish)
Sometimes those cheap hardware store sharpening stones perform horribly, sometimes they bring crazy value, this was 5€ and I'll definitely buy spares.

Millscale,
Yeah, I have a whole collection of hardware stones. I have about 12 6" stones, and I sort them into either being Soft (releases grit) or Hard (doesn't release grit), along with an 8" Update AlO stone, and an 8"x3" SiC stone that is about 2" thick.

The things I like about diamonds are these:

- They stay flat
- They’ll cut all steel types without issue, even at low pressure
- They’re a very good option for apexing the edge

Ryan Rafe,
Also the fact that they don't strictly require the use of lubricants, so sharpening is a lot less messy.

Only thing, although I never tried really coarse plates like dmt extra-coarse, a freshly conditioned oilstone is really hard to match regarding cutting speed, talking about changing bevel angles and thinning here
Also the edges always seem to came up on the toothy side, never really a problem in my use though

For simple steels, nothing really compares in efficiency to the Norton India line. Even a heavily damaged or butterknife-dull edge can be completely restored and sharpened in a minute or two. Cut the apex off, lean on it to shape it, cut the apex off again, and make some light passes at a slightly higher angle until it’s sharp enough. Much much faster than doing that with a diamond plate and with a diamond plate you can’t cut the apex off.

Quote
Ryan Nafe
The things I like about diamonds are these:

- They stay flat
- They’ll cut all steel types without issue, even at low pressure
- They’re a very good option for apexing the edge

I like diamonds also for that same reason.