Thread: sharpening for a newbie

Hi there

just started this whole straight razor thing, and I'm looking at getting some stones. I'm a knife knut to start with, so I have a 1200 ceramic stone to start with, with a 5k stone coming this week.

can I shave off the 5k, or should I invest in a 12k?

I have some severely limited funds, and have run out of stuff to sell.

thanks

From my experience, shaving off the 5k is going to be ruff! The progression I use personally is the 4k/8k Norton and then the Chinese 12k, which is fairly cheap at $34 USD. I've read in the wiki and on other threads that you can shave off the 8k Norton but I've gotten better results with adding a 12k in the mix.

With funds being limited, you may look into a BBW/Coticule combo, from what I understand, these stones are very versitile when used with a slurry stone and will give you several options.

Good Luck.

Joe

Yeah, you need something more than the 5k, and a jump to 12k is probably too far. That is especially true if the 12k you are thinking of is the Chinese hone, which as a natural should not be called 12k anyway.

The most common recommendation on this forum is the Norton 4k and 8k. They work. They're fairly economical. Finally, because they are commonly used in this forum there is lots of experienced advice available for how to use them.

Another option would be to use just a barber's hone. This will work if you if you are starting out with a shave ready razor. It can also be used as an economical finishing/polishing hone.

As already pointed out in the Basic Honing forum, the lower grit stones do the actual sharpening, and the higher grits polish the edge.

May I ask if you have already started to shave with your razor? If not I highly recommend sending your razor off to one of our honemeisters to put the proper edge on it. Honing your razor is just not the same as sharpening your knives. If you don't get it done by a honemiester you will always be trying to figure if your bad shave was due to bad technique or an improper edge. Get another razor to practice your honing skills and compare your edge to the one done by the honemeister.

Once you have your good edge you will only have to refresh it from time to time (with polishing stones or barbers hones). You will not need to set a new bevel unless you've damaged the edge.

with the right hones and skills it's possible to jump from 5k to 12k, but i don't think that's appropriate option for you.

your next stone should be on the 8k level, not 12k and certainly not the chinese hone which is slow so according to people using it often it takes 50-150 laps after 8k.

Your best option would be this....

PM to Jimbo with one word in huge bold letters...

HELP !!!!!

He is down under also.... and knows his stones very well, and can probably point you to the most economical path for you....

Welcome to the dark art of honing!

I have a BBW & Coti, but if your funds are limited, I probably would not go this route. The common wisdom around here says start with norton 4k/8k combo and expand from there.

Also, as mentioned above, it is a great idea to have a practice razor to work on your honing technique. Somebody on this site sent me a Double Arrow razor for free when I asked around for a good practice razor option-- under the condition I pass it on when I was through... so if you'd like the razor under the same terms, send me a PM.

-Chief

I have a honing question to the experienced among the group...

I tried my hand at honing a couple razors this weekend. One in particular, wasn't cutting at all.

I reset the bevel on a Norton 1K, did that until it was slightly biting into a wet thumbnail.

Then went through the conservative pyramid 3 times. It was shaving hair off my arm rather well. HHT didn't pass, but based on my reading, I'm not holding too much faith in that for sharpness.

I stropped, just nylon then leather, no pasted stropping.

I did a test shave last night. It was cutting hair, just not that smooth. Kinda pulled a little bit, and just didn't cut hair some of the time.

My question is (finally... , is this just the way it goes? Meaning, sometimes, you think the razor is ready, you test shave, and 'it just ain't quite there'?

Where do I go from here? Just keep at the conservative pyramid until I get an HHT to pass?

Thanks for any advice.

What grit is your polishing stone? I've heard of people shaving off of 8k, my my shave was less than appealing until I polished on my Chinese natural. I'm looking to move up a grit from there, too. Maybe a 3 line Swaty or comparable barber hone.

Originally Posted by warpigs421

My question is (finally... , is this just the way it goes? Meaning, sometimes, you think the razor is ready, you test shave, and 'it just ain't quite there'?

yes, especially when you start that's pretty much how it goes.

Originally Posted by warpigs421

Where do I go from here? Just keep at the conservative pyramid until I get an HHT to pass?

No, until it shaves properly. A proper HHT is not a pass/fail test, you'll have to learn how to use it by noticing the correlation between how the razor shaves and how the HHT goes.

Use magnification to check for any problems at the edge, you need to start with the correct bevel and often new guys can't notice chips and unevenness with the thumbnail test.