general newb questions

i bought a tosuke from old_school not too long ago and used it for a little while until it got a bit dull. cash was tight but things have eased up as of now so i need some help on some things:

1) what side am i supposed to use? i tried it with both and didn't notice a huge different, maybe i'm crazy?

side a) http://www.badgerandblade.com/galler...p?imageid=5788
side b) http://www.badgerandblade.com/galler...p?imageid=5789

2) do i need a special hone since it is Japanese? i was thinking of just getting a Norton 4k/8k and be done with it...is a 12k really necessary?

3) i've read a few times that these razors need to be honed and stropped in a special order. something like 3 on one side, 1 on the other. what side needs extra honing/stropping?

thanks!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Journer

i bought a tosuke from old_school not too long ago and used it for a little while until it got a bit dull. cash was tight but things have eased up as of now so i need some help on some things:

1) what side am i supposed to use? i tried it with both and didn't notice a huge different, maybe i'm crazy?

side a) http://www.badgerandblade.com/galler...p?imageid=5788
side b) http://www.badgerandblade.com/galler...p?imageid=5789

2) do i need a special hone since it is Japanese? i was thinking of just getting a Norton 4k/8k and be done with it...is a 12k really necessary?

3) i've read a few times that these razors need to be honed and stropped in a special order. something like 3 on one side, 1 on the other. what side needs extra honing/stropping?

thanks!

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1) The concave side should be against your face at all times (traditional method).

2)No special stones necessary, but I prefer the belgian stones over the Norton. A 6x1.5 coticule and 6x2 blue stone will be a superior setup in my opinion, and comparable in price. http://www.theperfectedge.com/belgian.shtml
(4x2 stones would also be fine, that small blade doesn't need a huge surface to make it sharp but the choice is yours)

3)3 on the flat side, 2 on the concave side for both honing and stropping.

Hope that helps.

whats so special about the Belgians? i read what info was on that website but they are a bit more expensive and i don't know why. maybe because they aren't artificial?

There's coticules and Belgian blues. BB is about 6 K, coticule 10-12 K.

Coticules are very versatile. Used with a lot of slurry they cut reasonably fast, with little or no slrurry they cut slower but leave a finer polish. They are natural stones quarried in Belgium.

When you look at the razor one side is convex and the other is concave. The concave side gets the additional honing. recommended hone for the Tosuke is a 12K. The secret to honing a japanese razor is that you have to use considerable downward pressure while honing. Totally opposite to honing the usual razor. The art and skill is in knowing how much pressure to use. Too little and you'll hone for a month of sundays and too much and you can ruin the edge. You just have to experiment.

ok the belgians make sense now.

but two people said different things. one person said the concave gets 1 stroke less...one person says it should get more... ?

I think its more a nomenclature thing there. The concave side goes against your face and thats the side that gets the additional strokes. Thats also the side with the Japanese characters on it.