Thread: Is the Belgium Blue Wetstone ample enough?

Originally Posted by coopersock

I am awaiting the above mentioned to arrive and just wandered if this was enough to hone my straight razor with along with some stropping afterwards?....

This is not the right way to sharpen razors. bbw and stropping will not get your blade to shave ready condition. I mention in my early message but i think i have to add a little more .
BBW will take forever to bring your blade to 4k level. You have better options.
( if BBW is the only choose for you of course you can hone on it but you will loose so much time will not make sense.)
That is why at least 7 people advised you that is not good option. You can get blade shave ready using different pastes which wasn't in your question. You can simple start using pastes and make your blade shave ready. Again it will not be just chro2 . chro2 is a fine polishing paste. you will need more courser pastes to start with. dovo,diamong and lastly chro2.
You can replace BBW WITH any barber hones, or norton 1/4 k. will save you time and get result better.
We can show you the way but you have to choose it. GL.

Originally Posted by kevint

After this evenings shave I would say that if this was the only stone available one could quickly adapt.


I wish I had a wider stone, longer too. 1.25 x 6 inch-just a pocket stone. I think with a bit more finessing a finer edge could be coaxed but it works fairly well with a quick testing.

good luck and happy shaving

Everything else you wrote is wonderful KT but this is the best , the fact that you said "Heck with it, I will just try it" Thank you for that...

In the end, you have what you have and if it works for you, then that's great.
I know Josh Earl used to shave off of belgian blue stones so it can be done. It may not be as smooth as edges created with other stones, but if it gives you a decent shave, then why not.

I have to agree with the majority of opinions here...the short answer is no, you would need some additional, finer, abrasives to bring the edge to an acceptable level of sharpness. Those abrasives could be other hones, pasted paddle strops, pasted loom strops, pasted hanging strops etc.
I agree with the use of a 3, 1, 0.5 grit size paste progression after the BBW but finish with a chrome ox 0.5, not the diamond 0.5 ( it is to harsh on the skin). This would not be my first or second choice to hone or maintain a razor. At the very least get yourself a good coticule to finish the honing, that a better choice than the coarse pasted paddle strops.

I would hope that you realize the the W&B your going to use would be a bear to reestablish a bevel on if your thinking of using the BBW. I believe we have some guys in Scotland who can hone that razor for you or show you how to do it. That would be your best bet.

The BBW and the Coticule have been around for a very long time. They are very versatile hones in the hands of an experienced person. But ....that takes time to learn.


Just my $.02,

I decided to shoot a video today:


http://straightrazorpalace.com/video...oning-bbw.html