Thread: dry honing

I've been shaving for a few weeks with a straight razor and its going great but I suppose its time to start thinking about learning how to hone. I have a really small bathroom and kitchen and not much outside area to speak of so I'm wondering if there is any way that dry honing can be done effectively. I feel like dry honing is not going to be quite as messy but since I have only a vague idea of what I am talking about feel free to enlighten me.

I don't think it is very realistic to dry hone from start to finish. I have used a dry yellow coticule to put a very final polish on certain blades but for the most part I always use water. The water acts as a lubricant, helps keep the stone from loading up with metal from the razor, and allows you to see the effect of altering your stroke. It really isn't that messy either. I keep a towel folded and under my hone, and use just enough water to cover the hone. The towel ends up wet usually but it is simple enough to hang up. The only thing that can be messy is lapping the hones. I do it right in the sink so it's not really messy at all.


Hope this helps!


-Rob

Rob has given some great advice. I just want to emphasize, many hones, though not all, can be ruined, or at least put out of commission from the clogging caused by using them dry. It's always best to use the recomended lubricant for each hone.

Not to hi jack this thread, but is there a lubricant that some people prefer to use other than water? Does it depend entirely on the hone? Thanks...

Most hones require water, though I believe for some you can use particular oils.

Originally Posted by RareBreed

Not to hi jack this thread, but is there a lubricant that some people prefer to use other than water? Does it depend entirely on the hone? Thanks...

It mostly depends upon the hone. Hence: Waterstone, Oilstone. Some barbers hones say the can be used with water or dry and some of them work great when lubed with lather.

Check out the Spyderco line of hones. They are meant to be used dry and they work just fine. I only have the UF but I have heard from others who have the lower grit Spydercos and are perfectly happy with using them dry.

If you want to go dry all the way, you could get the 3 stone set of medium, fine, and ultrafine. The UF might be sufficient for touch ups but you would need the others for anything more than that.

Keep in mind though that wet honing isn't really all that messy. A towel on a table or across your lap will catch water coming off the hone. A lot of honing videos show people pouring water onto the hone but you really don't need that much water. Most of what is poured onto the hone immediately runs off. You can use a spray bottle to drastically reduce the amount of water coming off the hone. Also, you can have the hone in a kitchen pan to catch the water. My point is that you have options. You CAN do it dry but you don't necessarily have to rule out wet honing just because of a small bathroom.

Let me preface this by stating I'm the newbiest of newbies. I only joined a few days ago and I'm still shopping for my first razor. So take whatever I say with a grain of salt I suppose.

Utopian mentioned the Spyderco brand and I have a triangle sharpmaker for my knives. It works great. The video it came with also demonstrates how to hone a straighte edge razor by laying the two triangle stones side-by-side on the holder such that the flat sides are up. I assume this will work. Has anyone tried this.

Perhaps I will start a new thread on this.

Dave

Originally Posted by patchmonkey

Let me preface this by stating I'm the newbiest of newbies. I only joined a few days ago and I'm still shopping for my first razor. So take whatever I say with a grain of salt I suppose.

Utopian mentioned the Spyderco brand and I have a triangle sharpmaker for my knives. It works great. The video it came with also demonstrates how to hone a straighte edge razor by laying the two triangle stones side-by-side on the holder such that the flat sides are up. I assume this will work. Has anyone tried this.

Perhaps I will start a new thread on this.

Dave

Bump.....I curious about this as well as I have the knife sharpener as well.

BJ

The only hones that I have heard of being used dry were the natural Belgium hones. Actually, I think Elbonator used to do this with the Belgiums. I have tried it a couple of times, but have been much more comfortable using all my hones with water. I have gotten away from any kind of slurry and the water is working from the coarse stones for bevel setting to the honing stones like the Norton or Shapton and then on the Escher or Nakayama for finishing. I have also tried shaving lather on the little barber hones and that actually worked OK. I tried them dry as well and didn't care much for the results.

Have fun,

Lynn