Thread: newbie needs a hone! and advice!

aBam916, have you searched for other members in your part of the world? A lesson from a honemeister is invaluable and if there's one living close to you, it's time well spent. Good luck!

By the numbers...

1. Learning to get a real good shave takes about 200+ tries; BBS all around (if you want to bother) takes many more.

2. Getting a good (or great shave) depends on starting with a sharp-sharp smooth razor.

3. Assuming you're starting with a pro-honed smooth/sharp razor you first need to develop excellent stropping skills to keep it that way; that means understanding nylon or poly webbing, treated webbing, maybe chalk-treated linen and how to really use leather properly.

4. Going to stones (if you can't first keep a razor properly sharp off of strops), depending o the uniformity of your razor(s) geometry will probably retard your success with 1-3 above.

Knowing what quality of blade you have and how to apply it to a stone will determine what stone(s) will help your shaves prosper. I think faster, better shaving starts with figuring out one thing at a time. Start with a couple of pro-honed razors and figure out how to keep them sharp as sin for a few months off a fabric and leather strop. After a while try to get to a meet and do some hands-on honing (on someone elses stones and with someone elses magnification). Then figure out what will work for the condition of blade(s) you use.

Otherwise, get a Norton 4000/8000 which can make practically anything that doesn't need a new bevel shave-ready. I did that; wasted a lot of time.

1. Thanks again for input.
2. How do i search for members near me?
3. How can i find meets? Thats sounds f'in awesome to go to.

If you feel that you dulled the edge with poor stropping, the last thing you need to attempt is honing. Just some friendly advice, send it out to be honed.

Originally Posted by Wayne1963

If you feel that you dulled the edge with poor stropping, the last thing you need to attempt is honing. Just some friendly advice, send it out to be honed.

ya wayne i get its a lot to learn at once, i agree. The thing is though is im learning to strop and if roll the edge or whatever i then will try and probably fail for a while at honing. Im only going to be honing my whipped dog so the often honinh isnt an issue then with my other nicer razor i will send out. in short im learning on the vintage then when im better i will hone and strop on my own with both razors.
thoughts?

Originally Posted by criswilson10

At most you probably only need a 12k hone. That will set you back about $200. That's equivalent to 8 professional honings.

What 12k hone costs $200?

my two cents, if you want to hone, get a few (1k king , 4/8k Norton), will set you back about $100, you will need patiants, watch tones of youtube vids. If you don't have another straight, you might want to think about getting a DE untill you get it right.
RoseVille , really, Originaly from O'valse :-) , hope this helps, if not, you know what to do.

Originally Posted by aBam916

1. Thanks again for input.
2. How do i search for members near me?
3. How can i find meets? Thats sounds f'in awesome to go to.

Local Help:
Local Help - Straight Razor Place Library

Meetups: Just check in the general discussion area - there are meets all the time, plus you can always start your own!

Originally Posted by Moosiker

Local Help:
Local Help - Straight Razor Place Library

Meetups: Just check in the general discussion area - there are meets all the time, plus you can always start your own!

Dang it. Everyone is in so cal. im near sac.