Originally Posted by
Kees
How about a good quality coticule? Your razors seem shave-sharp so unless you mess up the edge only touch ups are needed. Used with slurry it cuts faster, without slower and finer. Very versatile all in all.
Coticules used to be the number one hone here but lately Naniwas, Japanese hones etc got more in the limelight but the humble coticule is a very versatile hone. If you take a natural Belgian blue/coticule you have two hones in one though a bit slower than the Norton, however the coticule is finer than an 8K Norton.
At the end of the day all of the above recommendations you had are good and have their strong and week points.
Barber hones: quality varies, fast cutters but not as fine as a coticule. Swatys are very versatile as are many others.
Norton 4K/8K: faster hone but not as fine as a coticule. WIil produce a shave-ready razor.
Somewhere Lynn has written down his personal history of honing. He says he started shaving off the Norton 8K, later had a coticule, then found an Escher even more satisfactory and now he is even more enthusiastic about Nakayamas.
A barber hone, a coticule or a Norton 4/8K are all good starters.
Whatever you buy: they'll keep your razors going forever unless you damage the edge. When you start restoring razors you'll start needing more hones anyway.