Thread: honing questions

I may new at straight razor shaving. I have been doing this for about three month. I get three razors from ebay and would like to try to learn to sharpen them. I have a Carborundum stone and can get a edge good to shave from my arm but pulls on the face. I am in the Dallas area and would like help?

It sounds like you are doing good, you just need a finer stone(s) to finish the edge better. I am sure there will be suggestions as to what kind of stone mentioned here shortly.

Welcome to SRP, Catacket!

Honing razros isn't that difficult, but maybe a bit information to prepare won't be bad.
There is an extensive article in the Wiki for beginners that you might find interesting.
http://straightrazorpalace.com/srpwiki/index.php/What_hone(s)_do_I_need%3F

Feel free to ask anything else that comes to your mind.

Welcome to SRP. As Olivia said there are many honing tutorials in the SRP Wiki. You can see it listed in the toolbar above to the left. There are also good shaving tutorials dealing with blade angle, preperation, lathering and other factors that all contribute to a comfortable close shave. There are also videos that demonstrate shaving, stropping and honing.

I know there are members in your area so you may be fortunate enough to find one close to you who might show you his honing methods. You might also consider sending your razor out for a professional honing. You can find honemiesters in the classifieds (also in the toolbar above) listed in 'member services'.

As Olivia pointed out don't hesitate to ask any questions you may have but you have to do the homework if your going to get this thing down.

Originally Posted by nun2sharp

It sounds like you are doing good, you just need a finer stone(s) to finish the edge better. I am sure there will be suggestions as to what kind of stone mentioned here shortly.

Well said, just get a Norton 8000 grit waterstone, or the 4/8K combination. That and a good strop are all you really need.

The norton 4k/8k is my favorite hone of all time. You can do anything with it and if you follow the rules of the pyramids on the wiki, you really can't go wrong with it. Usually after using the Norton I will do about 50 laps on a coticule with water and then move to a pasted strop with CrO as a finisher.

I ordered one of the inexpensive Keepk barber hones from ebay to start learning to hone. My razor is a vintage one that I have been able to use since I began with a straight in April. Now I think I need to hone the blade. The hone is called an "Elephant Stick" and the instructions said to use an oil on the hone.

My question is this: what kind of oil to use? I don't know if I would want to use a petroleum based oil since I will be using it on my face and I still nick myself often when I shave. I have been applying a drop or two of peppermint oil on my cartridge razor for years to help preserve the edge for a better shave 'till I switched blades after about a week. The peppermint oil is expensive so I'm thinking my little 1/2 oz bottle wouldn't last long even on the small stone I received.

Thanks for your help everybody.

If you want to learn to hone, throw that one you bought in the trash. What you bought was probably a "Zeepk" hone and it is useless. Seriously, I'm sorry you wasted some money but that hone isn't going to help you. Do some of the reading recommended above and then you will get a better sense of what you need.

Originally Posted by Utopian

If you want to learn to hone, throw that one you bought in the trash. What you bought was probably a "Zeepk" hone and it is useless. Seriously, I'm sorry you wasted some money but that hone isn't going to help you. Do some of the reading recommended above and then you will get a better sense of what you need.

Not everyone can afford $80+ for a honing stone in this economy. Especially when starting out. I asked what oil to use, not which stone to buy. When I can I will upgrade, but for now I have to make do with what I have. I made my purchase based on what I viewed in one of Lynn's Youtube videos.

Originally Posted by MinniesMate

Not everyone can afford $80+ for a honing stone in this economy. Especially when starting out. I asked what oil to use, not which stone to buy. When I can I will upgrade, but for now I have to make do with what I have. I made my purchase based on what I viewed in one of Lynn's Youtube videos.

you don't need a $80 hone to keep your razor sharp, but i am pretty sure Utopian is correct. Here's the way I see your options
- throw away the hone
- keep the hone and after a stroke your razor will be much much worse than when you started. Then you'll really need that $80 hone, or you'll have to spend the $20-$30 to get your razor honed by somebody else.

Now the answer to your question, if you insist on it - use any cheap light oil that you can find - WD40, 3in1 etc.
You will still have to rinse the oil from the blade before you shave.
Alternatively you can ask the vendor who sold you the hone - they must be experts and know what kind of oil would be best.
And I'd bet money that water would work just as well if not better.

I have watched Lynn's DVD as well, and there is no way I would have bought the hone you bought based on it.