Advice regarding a beginners hone
I have been looking at hone reviews here, on Amazon, and other places and am totally confused. I see some hones that lubricate with oil, some with water (wetstones, slurry), some that need shaping, 250 grit, and I believe 4000 grit. My head is spinning :)
What would you guys recommend for a beginner's first hone? I have a few antique store razors that I am playing with and I have one that my barber put into shape for me and I need to keep it that way.
I actually bought an antique hone at a dealer, it's about 2" wide and about 5 - 6" long. It 'seems' smooth with no irregularities (at least to the untrained novice). Would something like this be sufficient? I have no clue what grit it is. Would I use oil on it, and if so, what kind?
I'm on a bit of a budget (like everyone) and really have no idea what I should expect price wise. I've seen some hones at over $100 and some as low as $20. Is there really a decent $20 hone out there?
Any suggestions are appreciated.
Update on using the diamond paste
After my reply to your thread last night, I decided to hit my razor on the pasted side of my strop to see how it would freshen it up and WOW!. Like I had said earlier, it's been a month or so that I've been shaving with it while only stropping (without diamond paste) and did 20 strokes on the pasted side of the strop this morning. I can't beleive what a difference it made. Where I could really tell the difference is at the back of my jaw, under my ear where my beard starts on my neck. This seems to be the most sensitive area of my face where I can really tell what's going on with the razor. Don't get me wrong, It was shaving good yesterday but this morning was way better.
At this point in my learning curve, I would strongly recomend a tube of the 6 micron diamond paste to help keep your razor maintained for a longer period of time before needing honing. I'm pretty sure the 6 micron is the one I used because it's the brownish color and you can get it from SRD and is fairly inexpensive.
Advice Regarding A Beginner's Hone
My dear Robin:
Great job with the updates. Thanks.
Regards,
Obie