Do new Norton India stones need to be flattened?

[Fromey]

I recently purchased a Japanese waterstone that I quickly found out needed to be flattened (i.e., it came from the factory with a slight dishing).

I have three Norton India stones on the way (course, medium and fine) and so am wondering if they will also need 'fettling' before use? Does anyone have experience with the flatness of Norton stones?

Thanks in advance for your collective wisdom.

 

[DTR]

I bought a new combination course / fine recently and it was flat both sides.

 

[bugbear]

I recently purchased a Japanese waterstone that I quickly found out needed to be flattened (i.e., it came from the factory with a slight dishing).

I have three Norton India stones on the way (course, medium and fine) and so am wondering if they will also need 'fettling' before use? Does anyone have experience with the flatness of Norton stones?

Thanks in advance for your collective wisdom.

IME they're sold pretty flat, and they wear slowly. But when the lateral hollow is bigger than the camber you want on your straightest blade, it's flattening time.

BugBear

 

[Jacob]

I recently purchased a Japanese waterstone that I quickly found out needed to be flattened (i.e., it came from the factory with a slight dishing).

I have three Norton India stones on the way (course, medium and fine) and so am wondering if they will also need 'fettling' before use? Does anyone have experience with the flatness of Norton stones?

Thanks in advance for your collective wisdom.

It depends on your standards of flatness I suppose. Nothing in the real world is perfectly flat.
But yes they should be "flat". If not send them back.
I wouldn't have bothered flattening a waterstone however as they are soft and it's easy enough to work them flat as you sharpen.

 

[ali27]

No water or oilstone is really flat when you get them new from my
experience. They all need some flattening, some more than others.Just
put some wet and dry on a piece of floatglass. Draw some lines
on your stones and start flattening.

A really flat waterstone ensures that with correct honing, you
get the sharpest edge. Whether you need that or care about that
is up to you.

Ali

 

[Jacob]

A flat stone may give you a straighter edge - but it's never that simple, they still tend to end up with a camber, which is OK anyway. Nothing inherently sharper about a flat stone though, and nothing "correct" about it either. :lol:

 

[ali27]

A flat stone may give you a straighter edge - but it's never that simple, they still tend to end up with a camber, which is OK anyway. Nothing inherently sharper about a flat stone though, and nothing "correct" about it either. :lol:

What did you put in your tea today Jacob?If the stone isn't really flat then what happenis
is that as the edge glides over the stone it hits high spots which damage the edge.

Ali

 

[Jacob]

A flat stone may give you a straighter edge - but it's never that simple, they still tend to end up with a camber, which is OK anyway. Nothing inherently sharper about a flat stone though, and nothing "correct" about it either. :lol:

What did you put in your tea today Jacob?If the stone isn't really flat then what happenis
is that as the edge glides over the stone it hits high spots which damage the edge.

Ali

Err, really? Like hitting a bump in the road? I've never had one like that I must say. And yes in that case I probably would flatten it. :shock:

 

[Fromey]

As a matter of fact, the waterstone out of the box did have a corrugation to it on both sides. You couldn't really see it with your eye, but I could feel the blade juddering over it. A bit of 120 grit W&D soon fixed that however.

 

[ali27]

A flat stone may give you a straighter edge - but it's never that simple, they still tend to end up with a camber, which is OK anyway. Nothing inherently sharper about a flat stone though, and nothing "correct" about it either. :lol:

What did you put in your tea today Jacob?If the stone isn't really flat then what happenis
is that as the edge glides over the stone it hits high spots which damage the edge.

Ali

Err, really? Like hitting a bump in the road? I've never had one like that I must say. And yes in that case I probably would flatten it. :shock:

No a bump would be too much. Think of it more like many small objects on the road
which you would hardly feel whilst driving.

Ali

 

[Jacob]

OK Ali I'll bear that in mind. :lol: