Thread: Setting up with a First set of Hones

All of the hones that you have are barber hones. Meaning they are used for upkeep.

The absolute minimum that you would need to make some thing sharp and not shave sharp is a Norton 1000/4000 combo. I think they make that. If you want shave sharp, but not shave ready then a 1k with a Norton 4/8k. Any higher than that and we risk being shave sharp.

Cheers and welcome

If I was starting out and knew what I know now a DMT 325 to flatten the hones, a 1k naniwa, shapton or norton and a norton 4/8 combo stone. Those will bring a razor from dull to shave ready. Once the honer can use those with confidence branch out to the cotucules, eschers and what have you. Looks like you already have HAD. Enjoy the ride.

Thanks for the heads up Singlewedge, so these are all maintenance grad or grit Barber hones?
I believe I have read that Norton 4/8K is more or less one of the top "standards" for getting a blade back into the ballpark in quite a few reads and forum inquiry "threads" where these stones here (in photo) can begin to serve their purpose as upkeep, but is any of these swatys for the step after the 8K side of Norton 2 in 1 as a polishing or finishing the edge or would I need a finishing stone and use these for Upkeep once the blade is made to be shave ready?
I want to make sure I understand what I have here, and what I need to get a blade to shave ready, a carbon and a silver steel razor. Thanks again for Both comments.
Or are these Swatys less than the 8K side above or about the equivalent to the norton?

I have a similar question... if you wanted to go 'all natural' what would you guys recommend? A White Arkansas for a bevel, A Belgian Blue, Yellow and maybe a Chinese to finish?

to go all natural isnt so easy.lower grit naturals hard to find.kinda.this ahould make a list. Turkey oil stone,belgian coticule,an esher ornakayama

If the razor is in okay condition, you can get a fast cutting coticule to do the bevel work (with slurry). I know there are arguments that this rounds the tip etc. but if one is determined it could work right? Also I would ask McWolf as I know he sharpens exclusively on natrual oilstone- Arkansas, Charnley, etc.

I wanted to use natural hones and picked a yellow coticule and a belgian blue whetstone. Bart has a good article in the wiki on how to hone with these tools. You can also just do the yellow coticule and skip the BBW, but it takes some practice to get the technique right (involves diluting slurry on the yellow coticule which moves if from an aggressive cutter to a fine polisher). The nice thing about the coticule is that it is known for leaving super smooth edges which makes for a really comfortable shave.
(and if you are a minimalist, it is the only hone you'll need once you figure out how to use it).


Just note that it took me a while to figure out how to hone with it-- the general concensus around here is that for a beginner, a norton 4k/8k synthetic is a good place to start (Lynn has a wiki article on how to hone with this), then you can always add a coticule to it later to get the smooth polish.

Happy hone hunting,
Chief

Originally Posted by singlewedge

All of the hones that you have are barber hones. Meaning they are used for upkeep.

The absolute minimum that you would need to make some thing sharp and not shave sharp is a Norton 1000/4000 combo. I think they make that. If you want shave sharp, but not shave ready then a 1k with a Norton 4/8k. Any higher than that and we risk being shave sharp.

Cheers and welcome

The Norton 4/8K is perfectly capable of getting a razor shave sharp. It is also all you really need as long as the razor has a reasonable bevel to start with.

Originally Posted by fccexpert

The Norton 4/8K is perfectly capable of getting a razor shave sharp. It is also all you really need as long as the razor has a reasonable bevel to start with.

But if the razor hasn't a reasonable bevel, then you need something else (as suggested)? Your post seems to confuse the issue to me.

Originally Posted by AlanII

But if the razor hasn't a reasonable bevel, then you need something else (as suggested)? Your post seems to confuse the issue to me.

A 1k Norton, Naniwa, Shapton or other synthetic is very handy for quickly setting a bevel or correcting the same. A 4k can do it but it takes more time. Could be a whole lot more depending on where you're starting from.