building a sharpening set- what's needed

Hey all,

So after 2 yrs of shavette shaving I got into a real straight razor. My first honing experience wasn't so good so I decided to invest in sharpening tools.I have a norton 4/8 k and a Illinois 835 strop. I made a homemade 2 sided balsa strop. I'm planning on buying a Chinese 12k waterstone ,either a norton or dmt flattening stone, and some strop paste the diamond .5 and .25 or CrO from ChrisL if possible.
Is there anything else that should be added(or taken away) so that I have the tools to sharpen and maintain a really keen edge?

Thanks

Sounds like you have a great plan there, of those choices I would acquire:

- Chinese 12k
- DMT-C -- much better than the Norton flattening stone
- Chromium oxide, from HandAmerican.com or ChrisL
(I don't use pastes, so I can't comment on either but by reputation both
should be just fine for the job)

The Norton will definitely get the razor sharp, and a combination of the
12k hone and the paste will make a super-smooth shaving edge. The DMT
will be suitable for lapping both the Norton and the Chinese 12k.

Good luck!

- Scott

I honed my first razor from start to finish today. I did it with Smith Tri-Hone fine, DMT 8EE, Chinese 12K, and Chromium Oxide from ChrisL. It shaved fine. YMMV.

I have a Norton 1k , 4k/8k , Shapton 15k , and a small Nakayama Asagi hone which I estimate to be 30k or better . After the razor is made shave ready , I only need the Nakayama Asagi to maintain the edge .