So a while back I bought my first (shave-ready) straight razor from the classifieds, and haven't looked back. Shaving has become the highlight of my day, and I'm constantly reading up on better ways to get that baby-smooth face. However, I find myself increasingly drawn to honing -- I've worked a good bit with tools in the workshop before, and can't wait to get the hang of sharpening my own razors! Not coincidentally, my razor is starting to lose that super-fine edge it once had...

Hence this post. I've been doing some reading, and I think I'm going to go with a 4" 8k DMT diamond whetstone (4" Diamond Whetstone™ Extra Extra-Fine - W4EE - The Consumer Link, safe link) instead of a larger one (to save some cash), and a 4-sided combo paddle strop from the well-shaved gentleman (as an "all-in-one strop")

Now, my questions are:

1) Will the 4 1/3” x 7/8” x 3/16” stone be too small? It also looks like the finish is bonded in a pattern instead of uniformly over the entire hone, as it is in the larger sizes. Will this be a problem? I'm trying to save money by going smaller, but I don't mind shelling out for a quality hone to save myself trouble later.

2) What pastes should I get for the strop? With the combo I get 3 sides for paste, so I'm thinking 1 micron, .5, and .25, but will 1 micron be too fine for a beginning honer? I'm worried that going with 3, 1, and .5 will be too rough, and 3, 1, .25 will wear out the .25 micron pretty fast.


I've got another strop to play with so that I don't damage the awesome one from the WSG until I'm a stropping pro.

Thanks!