Thread: Hone and Pinning questions

Naniwa are great honing stones. I own Naniwa, Norton, Shapton & I have a Coticule with a slurry. I also own the gray/green stone with slurry (can't think of the name right now). I also have an 8" Franz Swaty barber stone which is rare for an 8" one. These are all good stones but you would basically want a Coticule for a really good finishing stone although I do have a 10k Naniwa & a 16k Shapton. I'm not done yet, there are a couple more I want to get. I take it you found the pinning in the Library. For those that don't know where to go, look here:
Un-pinning and re-pinning a razor - Straight Razor Place Library
If anyone wants to watch video's on honing go here:
Honing videos - Straight Razor Place Library
For stropping you need a good strop. One of the best strops you can buy for an affordable price is a Tony Miller strop. He hand makes his strops & Lynn talks nothing but good about them. A good strop is your final sharpening procedure that you need to do in order to have a good sharp blade. It is a must & you can't skip that step. You can buy cheaper srops than a Tony Miller but you get what you pay for & if you buy a Tony Miller you are buying quality. There are also some other quality strops out there as well. It is easy to cut your strop by accident so you might want to practice with a popsicle stick at first until you are comfortable. Just take your time at first. There are stropping instructionals on here as well. The strop I use I bought from Straight Razor Designs, the forum store. I have a large Mastro Livi loom strop because I'm right handed & I don't have a collarbone in my left shoulder at all due to a motorcycle accident yrs ago. I was using a conventional strop but I realized that I was loosening up on the strop with my left hand unintentionally & my razors weren't getting sharp enough, I was having problems but a loom strop is pre tightened which I like a lot. It works great for me so if any of you have a problem of not keeping the strop taut as it should be then a loom strop is the way to go. Mine has a 25" working area & I love it.One bad pass on a trop can affect your blade like if you lift up on the spine by accident, you can curl the end of he blade up & it will not be sharp anymore. I just read an article about that awhile ago. Stropping is very important in the final step of sharpening your straight razor & like I said, one wrong move can screw it up & you would have to hone it over again 99% of the time. It isn't hard to strop at all, but it is very important. That is why I talk so much about it. You will also read that you can use a sharpening past on a strop that has 2 parts to it. One side will have a fabric & the other, leather. You can use a paste or spray to add to one for ext a sharpening but it isn't necessary as in the old days, they never had those things but in these modern days, it is up to you whether you want to try some out or not. if you are stropping correctly but don't get the edge you're looking for then you can experiment with the different pastes & sprays. You can get chromium oxide paste or diamond paste, whichever you want. You have that option but to keep it simply for now just try w/o it. You can always try it later to see if it is what you want. Lynn has videos about using pastes on strops. Like I said, just start out with the basics for now so you don't get confused thinking you have to have it because it is only an option..I hope this helps out & feel free to ask questions anytime.Good luck & have fun!