Throw away your Norton flattening stone and get a coarse diamond stone. If you are using the 220 grit Norton stone to do flattening on, you would be better flattening on a cheap granite stone and sandpaper. That Norton 220 is so soft that it can need flattening every few minutes. I wore mine all the way down to the 100 grit side in short order. You can get a nice granite stone for about $25.
The Norton 220 grit flattening stone just might be the worst stone I've ever owned. Ditched it almost as quickly as it took to purchase it in the first place. I use a coarse diamond stone to flatten. I alternate between an Atoma 400 grit diamond stone and a rather expensive Shapton diamond lapping stone. If cost is an issue, 220 grit on granite or plate glass does just as well. Generally speaking, I flatten any of the stones I've been using at the end of my sharpening session. I start with the finest stone, and work down to the coarsest stone. That way I don't have cross-contamination from coarser grits on finer stones. For flattening the backs of chisels and plane blades, I'll take a swipe or two on a 1000 grit stone, and that will determine whether I need to use 220 grit sandpaper on a flat surface, or just continue with the stones.
(10-30-2017, 11:51 AM)AHill Wrote: The Norton 220 grit flattening stone just might be the worst stone I've ever owned. Ditched it almost as quickly as it took to purchase it in the first place.
Truer words may have never been spoken. That stone is so soft it dishes if I look at it wrong. The only stone that's worse, in my opinion, is the Norton flattening bar; as Bob Lang said, it just makes things worse. I threw that one out and use a coarse DMT diamond stone to flatten the rest of my Nortons.
As for the 1k, 4k and 8k Nortons, I've had mine for about 10 years. In my experience I've learned they work great on HCS, chrome vanadium, and some HSS steels. The do OK on O1 and W1. They don't do so well on A2 or PMV-11; they're slow and the grit in my stones is inconsistent so I get mixed results.
Here are some supplies and tools we find essential in our everyday work around the shop. We may receive a commission from sales referred by our links; however, we have carefully selected these products for their usefulness and quality.
