Thread: Razor Maintenance

Hi Barry. Many members use both for a really killer edge, so you don't have to be limited to one or the other. Eventually we all find our personal preferences. I'm still on the fence on this one.

Ryan

Originally Posted by Ryan82

Hi Barry. Many members use both for a really killer edge, so you don't have to be limited to one or the other. Eventually we all find our personal preferences. I'm still on the fence on this one.

Ryan

Ryan -

I see you're from canada too - any suggestions for a place to get paste for stropping north of the border? also looking for a barber hone

Barry

A high grit stone may be the ideal way to go if you have the money and know you will acquire the skill as time progresses, but a Chromium Oxide pasted strop will cost you little now and you will probably have instant success with your edges.

Look for a good barber hone, they are hard to come by but are worth the wait.

My first choice is the barber's hone. Keep looking, you'll find one. Second choice would be a good natural stone such as a Belgian (coticule).

Regardless of which hone you choose - once you master the art of stropping you'll find that you use your hone only a couple of times a year. Really.


Scott

Originally Posted by honedright

Regardless of which hone you choose - once you master the art of stropping you'll find that you use your hone only a couple of times a year. Really.


Scott

This needs to be said more often, wth correct stropping a barbers hone is all thats needed. I know that barber hones are getting harder to come by, but the are still cheaper than a shoe box full of stones. You should be able to master the strop and barbers hone before starting a hone AD.

Originally Posted by bman40

Ryan -

I see you're from canada too - any suggestions for a place to get paste for stropping north of the border? also looking for a barber hone

Barry

Sorry, can't help you there. Canada is fairly limited when it comes to straight razor supplies, so we're mostly at the mercy of the net. Stay clear of the chrome ox advertised by Lee Valley tools though - there was a thread awhile back statting that it is definitely not up to the task. One Canadian website that sells some supplies is Fendrihan.com, check it out.

BTW - where abouts are you from?

Ryan - I am in Steveston BC - part of Richmond south of Vancouver.

I saw the tip on the Lee Valley stuff AFTER I bought it. I sent Chris L a message looking for some of the CrOx he sells - no response yet. I'm going to hit a hunting tore tomorrow for tuf-Gide and see if they have nay knife sharpening stuff....maybe they will have the crOx, and I can avoid the shipping to Canada.

Barry

I'm another fan/user of the barber hone. A reasonably fine one, reasonably flat, can be a great finishing hone.

(The BHAD virus can be a terrible thing...)

I don't usually like to promote ebay, but I picked up a nice old aloxite barber hone for $15 USD. It was from an estate sale, never used as far as I can tell. It works very nicely for edge touch ups (its about 9000 grit).