Thread: Confused about honing

I've been reading all around lately and the thing that is confusing me most is honing. The norton stone everyone recommends is a bit pricey for me right now...and i keep reading about barber hones. Ive seen the pics of the swaty, i believe its called and its just a small little hone.

How effective are these barber hones? Lets say i buy a razor thats not shave ready from the classifieds...would i be able to get it sharp using one of these. If thats the case why is everyone buying these expensive hone sets? Im really looking for something cheap that i can at least maintain my blades with, without having to send it out every couple months. Eventually i want to learn to hone...is this something i can do that on?

I also have a pasted Filly strop, but theres no way that is as effective as a stone.

It's a great tool for restoring keenness to a fading edge. It's not going to be suitable if there's a great deal of work to do.
If you started with a shave ready blade, i believe it could keep that going almost indefinitely.

Originally Posted by shorynot

... Lets say i buy a razor that's not shave ready from the classifieds...would i be able to get it sharp using one of these.

The short answer is YES, BUT...

Originally Posted by shorynot

If that's the case why is everyone buying these expensive hone sets? ...

Speed of cutting. It might take days to hone a razor on a barber hone starting from fully dull. Barber hones are intended for touch-up. Just like with sandpaper, you use coarse paper to remove metal quickly, but it leaves deep scratches, so you go to finer and finer grits until done.

There is a thread in the Honing Forum about this.

Originally Posted by ben.mid

It's a great tool for restoring keenness to a fading edge. It's not going to be suitable if there's a great deal of work to do.
If you started with a shave ready blade, i believe it could keep that going almost indefinitely.

Ok, so it wont restore a blade that has a very bad edge...but keep one that came to me with a good edge. That makes sense...i have a razor with some small knicks in the blade, would it be able to adress these tiny issues? lastly...can you guys refer me to any sites where i could purchase one?

Originally Posted by shorynot

Ok, so it wont restore a blade that has a very bad edge...but keep one that came to me with a good edge. That makes sense...i have a razor with some small knicks in the blade, would it be able to adress these tiny issues? lastly...can you guys refer me to any sites where i could purchase one?

Unfortunately ebay is probably your best bet for a Swaty. Expect to pay $20 to $35 depending on its condition.

A Swaty can be all you need to indefinitely maintain a razor that already is shave ready. It's not practical for setting a bevel on an old razor. It CAN be done, but it takes a few hours. The nicks in the blade may or may not be an issue to fix with the Swaty. It really depends on their size and your patience. In general, I wouldn't advise doing any sort of repair-type honing with a barber hone, but they are great for maintenance.

Now keep in mind, they are not going to give you the same quality of edge as a super high grit finishing hone, but they will give you a perfectly serviceable edge.

Originally Posted by Utopian

Unfortunately ebay is probably your best bet for a Swaty. Expect to pay $20 to $35 depending on its condition.

A Swaty can be all you need to indefinitely maintain a razor that already is shave ready. It's not practical for setting a bevel on an old razor. It CAN be done, but it takes a few hours. The nicks in the blade may or may not be an issue to fix with the Swaty. It really depends on their size and your patience. In general, I wouldn't advise doing any sort of repair-type honing with a barber hone, but they are great for maintenance.

Now keep in mind, they are not going to give you the same quality of edge as a super high grit finishing hone, but they will give you a perfectly serviceable edge.

So if i were to pick up one of these barber hones, i could use this when my blade starts to loose its kick, then use the pasted side of my strop to finish the blade even more?

Originally Posted by shorynot

So if i were to pick up one of these barber hones, i could use this when my blade starts to loose its kick, then use the pasted side of my strop to finish the blade even more?

Yup. +1 for everything that's been said here. When my razors need a touch-up, I do it with my Swaty, then polish on the Chinese Guangxi waterstone that Woodcraft sells. I would not even think of trying to hone chips out with a Swaty. For butter-knife razors from Ebay, I start with 1000 grit automotove wet/dry sandpaper on a piece of plate glass. Doing that with something as fine as a Swaty will take 100 years. After the sandpaper, I progress through a range of stones, each with a finer grit.

Originally Posted by Johnny J

Yup. +1 for everything that's been said here. When my razors need a touch-up, I do it with my Swaty, then polish on the Chinese Guangxi waterstone that Woodcraft sells. I would not even think of trying to hone chips out with a Swaty. For butter-knife razors from Ebay, I start with 1000 grit automotove wet/dry sandpaper on a piece of plate glass. Doing that with something as fine as a Swaty will take 100 years. After the sandpaper, I progress through a range of stones, each with a finer grit.

I just cant afford a big set of stones at all right now...it seems like quite the investment. And quite a steep learning curve as well. I guess ill just keep an eye out for a barbers hone and continue shipping razors out to get them in the best condition.

Originally Posted by Johnny J

Doing that with something as fine as a Swaty will take 100 years.

Or, about 5 hours!

100 years or 5 hours, whichever comes first!