Thread: HELP choosing honing system

Hi Scott, Just joking about the Bill Gates thing my friend, Welcome to the forum. Sounds like your pretty well covered. The Shapton 1000 is a good bevel setter. I'd pick up a Norton 220/1000 combo to. I like the Nortons. Some pasted flatbead hones, like the ones Tony Miller sells on his site are great. I use Chromium Oxide and 1.0, .5 and .25 diamond pastes. As far as lapping your hones, I feel the DMT D8XX is invaluable.

The D8C is good to, but it can become clogged up and worn easy it seems to me. I do lots of hone lapping, I sell Chinese 12k Slurries, so I'm always cutting, and just touching them up a bit, beveling the sides and corners. I also love old Barber hones. These things are some of the hardest hones I've ever come across. Even with the D8XX, it can take hours to get out a 1mm chip. As I said, Once you take these hones to a D8c or D8xx, you may want to clean them up with some wet/dry sandpaper on a piece of marble tile. That's what i like. i have two 18 in sq pieces on my counter, they double as cutting boards, so my girl is happy too. It's a win win...Anyway, you lay you wet sandpaper on the tile and finish your hones. I should post some pics of my finished Barber hones, they came out really nice, They look new...I really wish I had before pics. I think the only hone I don't own is an Escher.
I'm not sure why, They are pricey, and to the best of my knowledge, a finisher. The guys that have them say that there's nothing like an edge from and Escher. If I could find one at an Antique store or Estate sale, maybe.
But for now, I can't justify spending almost 500 dollars for a Vintage hone.

Coticules are wonderful hones, close to an Escher, but each is different. With the Naniwa hones, you have consistency. I have about a dozen or so Coticules and BBW's. Each are unique. Some are fast, some are slow, but they do put a really nice edge on your razor. I think if your really going to get into this hobby, it's almost standard equipment. The razor itself is also a factor, A Wade and Butcher will hone differenty in my opinion that say, a Dovo, or a Dubl Duck. Once you get into it and start doing it, you'll know what more you need. We're all here to help. If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask, or drop me a pm anytime...Rich

Originally Posted by motohed

Enough about me , I also have the Shapton pro 1000 stone coming and the DMT D8C-325 . So what else do I need

The only thing you need is practice. You have more than enough hones already.