Customer Reviews

Norton Crystolon Combination Oilstone, Fine/Coarse, 1 x 2 x 8"

5 star:		(2)
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This is a terrific synthetic oilstone for the coarsest two grits of any sharpening system.

If you have some Arkansas stones, for example, then you need this for coarser work such as reshaping bevels, taking out nicks, erasing the factory machine marks on your edge, and so on. Crystolon (Norton's name for Silicon Carbide, aka Carborundum) removes steel much, much faster than any natural stone.

Conversely, if you get one of these, then you should supplement it with some finer grits, such as a few grades of Arkansas stone or Japanese waterstone. The combo oilstone alone will get a knife or tool started but won't get it truly sharp.

This Norton stone arrives nice and flat, with none of the irregularities you find on cheaper stones. It also wears or "dishes" more slowly than coarse waterstones do.

Best of all, it's presoaked with oil. You would be amazed at how much honing oil a dry stone will soak up.

I use Norton honing oil on mine. It is just the right consistency to float away abraded metal and stone debris.

To clean it, you just flood the surface with honing oil and squeegee it off with a finger.

The coarse side is about 100 grit (USA), and the finer side is more in the neighborhood of 220.

You might notice that Norton sells a combo India (aluminum oxide, aka corundum) stone of the same dimensions. That stone is less aggressive and just a bit finer. I use both, but I favor the Cystolon because it makes faster work of major repairs.

Considering that your coarsest grit gets the most use, the price makes this an incredible bargain. I've been using mine fairly heavily for years. Everyone with a kitchen or a workshop needs one of these.

I've had trouble re-profiling and fixing nicks in my knives, it just took far too long! So I decided to try this out and it was exactly what I was looking for. It still takes time to re-profile(especially with harder steels), but it is not unbearably long or hard to do with this stone. This is perfect for starting an edge, but you will want a finer grit to compliment this stone once you set the edge. Overall I'd highly recommend this for anyone that likes sharpening freehand and needs a coarse stone.