Thread: Second razor & buying a hone???

Hello everyone I've got a question..

Since I've gotten my Straight Razor kit from Vintage Blades I've ben thinking of getting a second Razor & ofcorse a hone but I'm not 100% sure which to get.

I've been thinking of getting this Razor from Amazon.com Amazon.com: Ultimate Pro 150 Straight Razor: Health & Personal Care & then 1 or 2 hones to practice honing because as I understand it this razor does not come Shave Ready & the practice would hopefully benefit me in keeping my razor sharp for use.

Two things.
Does anyone have a suggestion on the hones I should buy?
I've been reading & it seems that a 8K & most definitly a 12K Barbers hones are the way to go but there are so many out there & I've been burned before on Ebay so I'm not sure who is a good source.

That Razor that I'm thinking about, does anyone have any experience with them or have a better suggestion "remember this will eventually be a shaving razor but my intention is to use it to learn to hone properly & is why I'll go on the cheap for this one."

Thank you for any suggestions.

That was some of the most all encompassing and helpful advice that i have seen on here. I will be using that info as well. Thanks Stubear.

OK I just bought a Razor from Brando, even though it is Shave ready I thought to try, now is to see what is out there that isn't shave ready & then start purchasing some stones.

Any suggestions as to who to get some from?

Stubear was right on the money on this one.

Since it looks like you've already bought a shave ready razor, all you need is the finishing stone and give it a couple laps every month or two. If you're looking for a good hone as a finisher, I recommend either the Naniwa 12k or the Chinese 12k.

I am going to offer what is rapidly becomming my contrarian reply to questions about hones. In my opinion, and this is backed by years of experience, all you really need is a Norton 4/8K waterstone. Any razor that cannot be sharpened with this stone is probably to far gone to be worth bothering with, and the 8K side will get the blade as sharp as needed for a good comfortable shave. Finer grit stones will make it smoother, but not sharper, but they will not bring the smoothness to the point where you will not need to strop and a good stropping will smooth out the edge from the 8K just as well (though it might take a little longer). If you want some additional polishing after the 8K, I would go with a pasted strop - less expensive and easier to do than using a super fine grit stone, but as I said it's not really necessary.

Just my opinion of course, but this is what I have learned after years of shaving and maintaining my razors.

For those that use the Naniwa stones would using the 8k stone and then the 12k stone every few months be good for an edge that is wearing and needs a refresher? Or would the 12k stone be all that is really needed to refresh an edge along with stroping (non pasted)?

It depends on how much of a touch up is needed. If it is done as soon as a diminishment in the quality of the shave is noticed, then the 12k will probably be sufficient. If the edge is farther gone, then the 8k will likely be needed. With refreshing any edge, it's better to try less with just the higher grit first. That is, try to use just the 12k and then strop and shave. If it's not good enough, try doing more strokes on the 12k and test again. If it's still not there, then drop down to the 8k.

Thank you, I will most likely be using the 12k more often for myself but I have made quit a few cuts in my strop in the beginning and that may have dulled it further than I know. Either way I am sending the razor into SRD to be honed first and then i will be trying to learn to take over from there, sure I will end up needed a pro either way for a bit.

Lots of great answers already given. I think the common theme in all of them is that you don't need anything more than a 4K/8K, either as a combo stone or as separates, to accomplish the refresh of your edge. Unless you damage your edge, you will not need a new one for a very long time. Of course you can get polishing stones (12K, 16K, and up). My pasted strop perfroms that function for me. If are truly set on restoring razors, then get some rough grit stones to set a new edge.

as far as that no brand razor goes I have bought a no name razor once and after hours and hours of sharpening I can finally cut butter with it. the place you saw it also has a $75 dovo that I have been thinking about. it's a half hollow ground carbon steel razor with ugly cheap plastic scales that do absolutely nothing for it, but from the reviews I have heard on dovo's I would much rather take my chances with one of them. I would also think that if you start out with a truley shave ready razor (honed by someone that knows how) you shouldn't need more than a strop and a finishing hone. currently though I'm fairly happy with my 3 vintage razors that i started with (and very rarely have to do more than strop). I do have granpa's old wilbert cutlery razor in shave ready condition but I only shaved with it once (I mostly keep it put away due to its family heirloom status).