Thread: first hone?

Hello All,
I have acquired a few razors and am thoroughly enjoying shaving with them. However, at some point in the very near future I will need to refresh some edges. An obvious option would to send out for re-honing from someone on the forum. But I would like to at least try my hand at honing. I wonder what would be the most appropriate to my situation? A finishing stone(12k - 16K), norton 4k/8k, Belgian Yellow coticle, pasted 4 sided strop? All of the above+ would be nice, but which would be the best to start with?

Thanks,
Dubs

any of them would be fine. pastes would not give you idea about honing - they'd get the job done, but you still won't have any experience using a hone.

dups, get a dmt 8c or 8e to set bevel then a combo blue /yellow from howard that will give you the best set up and if you dont like honing you can sell them i the class. and get your money back , but i think you will like to do it your self .

If you're not going to restore eBay specials you can go a lifetime with just a yellow coticule or a barbers hone. The other stuff is fun but it's not necessary.

Seems like you have the same screen name as one of our Canadian members. Anyhow, the Norton 4/8 combo used to be the recommended hone for most guys starting out. There are many choices but there is a lot of information available on the Norton and many of the members are very familiar with using it. Nowadays the same can be said for the coticule and a lot of guys seem to be going with the Naniwa superstones. Go to the SRP Wiki honing section here and do some reading when you get the chance. Might help you make an informed decision.

+1 to what Jimmy said.

Also, I think his name here is "Dups" close though.

If your blades are shaving now and you just want to keep them that way a finishing stone is all you need. Either the coticule that was mentioned, or any of the dozens of barber stones, or the shaptons, etc.

If you want to go more into honing than just refreshing an edge you will need coarser grits. The Nortons are pretty standard but the key is having a good grit progression. You can use any combination of barber stones, nortons, shaptons, coticules, etc. that you want.

Thanks for the info. The coticle sound good for now, and maybe I can expand later. I appreciate all the input.

For years the Norton 4K/8K was really the most versatile hone out there and the advantage was that a new guy could learn how to hone pretty quickly with it and end up with pretty consistent decent results. The Coticule was basically a finishing stone either with a light slurry or just water. The Norton 220 and 1000 were really good for repairs and setting bevels as they cut quickly.

Recently we have seen the Shapton Glass and the Naniwa Super come into the picture and they really produce very consistent results and are easy to learn on. We have also had people using the Coticule with heavier slurry doing all kinds of things. The only disadvantage with the Coticule is time and consistency depending on the thickness of the slurry you are using. Still a nice finishing stone before a .5 diamond something or chromium oxide.

For re-freshing, the Naniwa 12K is producing really great results. 10 strokes followed by 10-15 strokes on either the .5 diamond or chromium works very well. The Shapton 16K is also nice. A Coticule will work. An Escher or nice Nakayama are both great choices. Actually a cheap Barbers Hone can be fun to play with for refreshing. It calls for 4-6 strokes on most of the instructions when you can find them.

Although some folks use DMT's, I like the DMT coarse 325 more for a lapping stone than anything else. Works well and an alternative to the GDLP.

There will be as many opinions here are we have members.

The fun is experimenting and finding out what works best for you.

Lynn

Lynn couldn't have said it any better. Those are exactly my thoughts on the subject. Those are also the only hones I still use and kept. Shaptons, Naniwas superstones, Escher and Jap nat. You can't go wrong with either Shapton or Naniwa superstone. The Naniwas are much softer to use, the Shaptons are harder. Both need to be rinsed frequently as they take up swarf extremely fast. Other than that I have nothing but praise for them and I would buy them again in the blink of an eye. Unless Lynn comes with another unrivaled new hone revelation...

Total newb like yourself, but for what it's worth this is by far the most indepth discussion I've seen on honing/finishing. Includes a comparison of 12 different finishes...

The Interactive Guide to Straight Razor Shaving - Badger & Blade

Doesn't discuss Shapton's or DMT's in depth...

Cheers,

- HJ