Thread: What stroke do you use on a wider hone?

After reading a few threads recently, I have come to these conclusions:
1. The X pattern (and its variations) is the best stroke for honing a straight razor
2. A 3" hone provides no benefit over a 2" one
3. A 2" stone can actually be a better choice when honing smiling or warped edges
(not saying these are fact, just saying that's what I've read)

So I'm curious.
Does anyone have a preference for wider hones, or do they simply use them because that is a popular width?
I suspect the reason so many stones are 2.75" or 3" is that these hones are wider so they can be used on knives and tools. I suppose that is is not hard to believe that the straight razor market is small compared to others' sharpening needs.

I do understand that many hones (Norton, Shapton) only come in one width, but when there is a choice, (Coticules, Japanese Naturals), why would one choose a wider size over a smaller one? Especially when it comes to the pricey Coticules that we all love so much. You'd think we'd all just have 1.5" to 2.5" hones.

Honestly, I prefer narrow hones. I have the norton 220/1000 and 4000/8000 stones, and actually ended up wanting narrower hones. So I actually cut them both in half to remedy this! http://straightrazorpalace.com/advan...w-results.html

My touch up hones are a coticule which is an 8"x2", and a little thuringian which is only about 6"x1". I personally don't like anything wider than 2", but that's not to say there's anything wrong with wider hones. If you can keep the blade flat on a narrower hone, I think it's better than a wider one. It's easier to deal with warped blades, and I feel that all parts of the edge get a more fair share of the honing.

I've read of a lot of benefits of using the X stroke, i.e. for accounting in unevenness of the stone or blade, so I would stick with the X stoke even on the 3" wide hone.

But if you look at all of the vintage hones, they're all about 2" wide or less. So I don't think it's a modern fad to like narrower than 3" hones.

Nope I like the 3 in size and I do all the above on my hones, the razor and the condition determines what stroke I use....
And BTW you forgot a few stokes in the poll....

I have a variety of lengths and widths in my hone arsenal and I use most of them at one time or another. I like narrow hones but once I learned the X stroke I found I could do it on a 3" wide hone as easily as on one half that wide. Now I am really appreciating the larger hones. I always use the X stroke in one form or another.

... or maybe all of the above, depending on the razor.

I often finding myself using a combination of regular X-stroke and straight pushes. (Mostly the X.)

Maybe because I started doing that on my 3" strop. Just feels right to me.

I am no pro at this but I like a narrower hone, probably because I am no pro at this. I have found there is no perfect razor, they almost all have some problem and that is mitigated by using a narrow hone or a rolling-x stroke. A rolling-x really just simulates a narrow hone so why not use a narrow hone? I finally picked up a yellow coticule (2X6) and really like it and my razors have never been nicer to use all the way to the tip. Cost also enters into the equation for me and a 3X8 is twice the cost.


Take Care,
Richard

I prefer narrow hones. They suit my honing style better ( rolling X).
On this subject there is no one right answer that suits all razors and honing styles.


Just my $.02,

I also prefer narrower hones and use different strokes to suit the razor in hand.

I like hones 3/4" to 2" in width and any length from 4" or more is fine.

I voted other since it depends on the razor. If I can do the straight push, I will since it is marginally faster.

Otherwise I use whatever combination of rolling x-angled-swooping-mojo it takes to get the entire bevel equal time in contact with the hone.