Thread: Don't want to hone (at least, not right now)

once you set the bevel with the hone, a pasted strop will keep the razor sharp indefinately. in my experience, it will never need to be honed ever again. even with a non-pasted strop, the edge would still last quite a long time between hones.

Originally Posted by cotdt

once you set the bevel with the hone, a pasted strop will keep the razor sharp indefinately. in my experience, it will never need to be honed ever again.

This is simply not true! I don't know how much experience you have, but when you make a statement like this you should back it up with real-world data.
I consider your post absolutely misleading.

I would say that a pasted strop will keep a razor sharp for a very long time but in practice, not forever. It really needs to start on a hone to get the bevel and edge right and go back to a hone every so often to refine any sloppyness caused by a paddle over time. proper use of a paddle will buy you 6 months easily, maybe a good deal more.

While I agree hones, barber or high tech new stones are needed thay are not an instant path to a perfect edge. There is a learning curve and many dulled edges in between. Some guys get the knack instantly but for most it seems it takes a good deal of practice.

Not everyone wants sharpening to be their hobby, just shaving. While you need to know how to sharpen to shave, for many it becomes as much fune as the shaving! When a new guys comes here I think he needs two things. One to know the whole picture...razors, strops, hones, etc.... so he can see where he is headed and he needs to know what will get him started with the best chance of getting good results. When I first learned I didn;t have this resource and was sold the typical factory dulled razor. Luckily a week later the dealer explained the paddle strop idea to me and I had instant results with keeping a razor going. Later I added a hone and went through a long learning curve.

Whether I sold sahving supplies or not I would say start with a shave ready razor, and a daily use hanging strop unless space required something smaller, then buy or make a pasted strop, then look into hones. I would still suggest a Norton over a barber hone as they are consistant and one could get the experience of 100 other guys here starting with one. A barber hone is great but each varies and the best we can teach then is the technique of what ought to work but not knowing the grit of that barbers hone results can vary widely.

Back when I was first learning about photography I had a teacher that decided instead of teaching us B&W developing first as is typical we used B&W Polapan instant film and learned composition instead. We got the satisfaction of nice images and later learned the harder stuff. A newbie here will have his hands full learning to get a good shave, lets give him the easiest path first, then the hard stuff later like honing, etc.....

Tony

Originally Posted by cotdt

once you set the bevel with the hone, a pasted strop will keep the razor sharp indefinately. in my experience, it will never need to be honed ever again. even with a non-pasted strop, the edge would still last quite a long time between hones.

if that were true there would not be such things as barber hones

I will try a hanging strop at some point, but right now I live in a rented house and even my bathroom's doorknob is a bit flimsy.

Say my budget is large enough but I don't want to be wasteful, how much should I expect to pay for one of these hones, either new or used?

Ah, also, I considered a Shavette, but since the point of going the straight razor route is to get rid of anything disposable, I put that possibility aside.

Oh and I hope I'm not sounding lazy, its just that I don't want to buy stuff I don't actually need (did I mention that the house also lacks storage space).

Thanks again!

I don't dispute the barber hone recommendation but ..... any barber hone I have ever gotten wasn't flat. That said I would bet that if you went into a barber shop and checked their Swatys or whatever they wouldn't be flat either and they seem to do alright refreshing their razors. I would still recommend a Norton 4/8 combo hone and the Norton flattening stone.

That is the most cost effective to sharpening and maintaining your razors IMHO. If you have the $$ and want to spend a few more bucks forget the Norton flattening stone and go for the DMT D8E 1200 continuous diamond plate. You can set bevels with it and flatten your Norton.

You can pick up a barber hone on ebay for around 20$

Originally Posted by Raiontzukai

I will try a hanging strop at some point, but right now I live in a rented house and even my bathroom's doorknob is a bit flimsy.

There has to be something sturdy in your house. For example my strops are hanging on the towel rack, doorknob doesn't seem a good place for me to start with. I just think that most people preferring hanging strop is not a coincidence.

Originally Posted by Raiontzukai

Say my budget is large enough but I don't want to be wasteful, how much should I expect to pay for one of these hones, either new or used?

yes no need to buy stuff you don't need. the only problem is that there is a lot of options and it is a matter of preference, so it's a catch-22.
Norton is the most popular hone and excellent value. If you want a better option for more money, get shaptons. If you want just one hone or want natural option get a coticule, possibly with a belgian blue backing (may have to go vintage for that).
Barber hones are generally hard to lap if you need to, esp. if they have chips, which being ceramics is rather common. I've sold some of my swatys for $20-$25, best bet is to get it from a member who has a lapping plate so that you hit the ground running.