Bare Minimum?

Hi guys, I'm a newbie, awaiting my first SE razor which I purchased shave ready from shooter74743 in the classifieds.

I also ordered the 'Big Mama' strop on ebay from star shaving, it has a leather strop and a wool felt strop which I intent to paste one side of with CrO.

My question is, will this be enough (provided i learn how to properly strop and such) to indefinitely maintain the edge on my razor?

I'm a poor college student so I'm trying to keep my investment into this to a bare minimum.

I'm sure Shooter did a great job on it, so it would be up to me to preserve that edge, but i'm just curious will I inevitably have to hone it on a stone even If i maintain it diligently with the strop and CrO.


Thanks guys.

It won't be enough to keep the edge going forever, but it will be enough to keep the edge for several months. Some guys would say closer to a year, but I think it depends on how you use it, what kind of razor it is, and what kind of beard you have. By that time you will probably know which stone you're itching to try or you can send it of for $20 to have a fresh edge put on it.

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Originally Posted by Soilarch

It won't be enough to keep the edge going forever, but it will be enough to keep the edge for several months. Some guys would say closer to a year, but I think it depends on how you use it, what kind of razor it is, and what kind of beard you have. By that time you will probably know which stone you're itching to try or you can send it of for $20 to have a fresh edge put on it.

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Gotchya, thanks for the reply. In this case is there one hone which you can recommend that will tide me over. Obviously nothing ridiculously expensive, and is possible an "all in one". I noticed a lot of guys have more than one, and they all seem pretty pricey. I wouldn't need a whole slew to restore razors, just to maintain mine.

I've looked through various threads but i can't come to a consensus on which is a good moderately priced beginner hone.

If you're only looking at maintaining one already-honed razor, a simple barber's hone, such as a Swaty, should last you a lifetime and be all you need to touch up your blade indefinitely. These can be found on the cheap pretty easily, I got mine from Ebay for $25.

For basic honing of multiple razors, a Norton 4k/8k (~$70) does the rick pretty well, especially when followed by X strokes on your pasted CrO strop.

Hope this is of use, and best of luck!

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Originally Posted by CDogg

If you're only looking at maintaining one already-honed razor, a simple barber's hone, such as a Swaty, should last you a lifetime and be all you need to touch up your blade indefinitely. These can be found on the cheap pretty easily, I got mine from Ebay for $25.

For basic honing of multiple razors, a Norton 4k/8k (~$70) does the rick pretty well, especially when followed by X strokes on your pasted CrO strop.

Hope this is of use, and best of luck!

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Thanks for the replies guys.

I don't see a situation where I would be doing that. The razor I got is shave ready, and I intend any razors I acquire in the future to be the same. I would only want to maintain them.

So I guess a barber's hone is what I'm looking for.

If any accidents happen (knock on virtual wood), I definitely don't mind sending it for repair, but as of now I just want to keep my razor(s) shave ready indefinitely.

U should be good dude. Just got my strop from star shaving and it's pretty impressive. Get a couple razors for rotation and you'll go longer without honing. If ur in Toronto I found a guy from shavingstyle.com there cool and they have all the supplies u need, ask if they have any vintage razors they can sell u for around 60-70 bucks. I started straight shaving in september and I wanted to stay on a budget but I'm getting into this thing like a chick and handbags. I'm like almost like $400 deep... Keep in mind I got three razors 2 strops and a bunch of soaps and creams. I think u can do it all for under a $100 with a pretty nice set up.

what about something like this?

I heard these are the best bang for the buck for finishing.

New Chinese Water Hone / Waterstone for Straight Razor on eBay.ca (item 360211940224 end time 20-Jan-11 09:19:34 EST)

I'm also looking at a few vintage Swatys on Ebay, it seems I can get one for a fairly decent price.

Does the Swaty do the same thing as the CrO Pasted Strop? Or would I go to the paste after the Swaty?

My understanding is that I strop before (and after) each shave. Then when the stropping no longer works, I go to the felt, then the leather again.
When that no longer works, go to the pasted, then felt, then leather.

And finally when all those stop working, go to the Swaty, then back up the progression.

I'm just looking to not have to send my razor out for honing or invest in a whole bunch of stones, and still have my razor be as sharp as the day I got it.

Thanks guys. *sorry for the newbness*

Essentially, a barber hone and a CrO pasted strop accomplish the same thing, which is to refresh an edge.

From personal experience, I would suggest that a barber's hone is a little more effective at refreshing an edge than a pasted strop. My CrO balsa strop is used mainly as a finishing touch to smooth out the edge after a complete honing session.

There are some, myself included, that strop with linen and leather each and every time (I go 20/60). Others strop daily with only leather and use the linen/felt/nylon sparingly

As straight shaving is much more an art than a science, your mileage may vary with all of these options.

Hope you have received your blade in good order. To maintain the edge for a VERY long time, use .5 diamond paste or spray. I got my paste off the "bay".

Glen (gssixgun) did a test and quit at about 6 months on just using diamond and a strop. I must mention that he just got tired of the "test", the edge was still great. You can search some of the threads that Glen started to see what I am talking about.

Those chinese stones you are mentioning would do the trick as well...but you will have to lap it. Actually you should lap any new stone you get unless you know the seller has lapped it. I purchased a 8x2 one from Woodworking Plans & Tools | Fine Woodworking Project & Supplies at Woodcraft, but I'm sure they are all coming from the same mine.

That edge I put on there should last you quite some time (2-3 months) as long as you don't roll the edge while stropping...and that's just using leather.

You might keep an eye out for other Canadian's that could be in driving distance from you. It's good to network, learn, and they just may have a hone or two you could try out at their pad...

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Originally Posted by shooter74743

Hope you have received your blade in good order. To maintain the edge for a VERY long time, use .5 diamond paste or spray. I got my paste off the "bay".

Glen (gssixgun) did a test and quit at about 6 months on just using diamond and a strop. I must mention that he just got tired of the "test", the edge was still great. You can search some of the threads that Glen started to see what I am talking about.

Those chinese stones you are mentioning would do the trick as well...but you will have to lap it. Actually you should lap any new stone you get unless you know the seller has lapped it. I purchased a 8x2 one from Woodworking Plans & Tools | Fine Woodworking Project & Supplies at Woodcraft, but I'm sure they are all coming from the same mine.

That edge I put on there should last you quite some time (2-3 months) as long as you don't roll the edge while stropping...and that's just using leather.

You might keep an eye out for other Canadian's that could be in driving distance from you. It's good to network, learn, and they just may have a hone or two you could try out at their pad...

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Thanks Shooter, I actually haven't received it yet, should be another week or so.

I guess the best thing to do is to just use the pasted as long as I possibly can, and then go from there, it'll be a while anyways.

I would get the Chinese stone and lap it (there are tutorials here) shouldn't cost you more that $30. The C02 is cool but if your washroom is white like mine..every time your strop bumps something it will turn green. Not a big deal but eh that's just me.

Thanks for all the replies guys.



I'm still a bit confused/curious as to the reasoning/science of maintaining a straight. In theory, if you properly and diligently strop every shave and "refresh" with linen or even CrO, shouldn't you be able to keep the original edge, providing it was properly done in the first place, forever?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but from what I've read so far, it seems like every razor, no matter how diligently maintained, will need to be "properly" honed sooner or later, whether its 2 months or a year for example.

I understand if you do it properly some can prolong this longer than others, but even those will need to rehone.

I'm sure there are some things I'm missing here.

Yep, the middle part of my last...diamonds last forever :-)

Glen (gssixgun) did a test and quit at about 6 months on just using diamond and a strop. I must mention that he just got tired of the "test", the edge was still great. You can search some of the threads that Glen started to see what I am talking about.

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Originally Posted by shooter74743

Yep, the middle part of my last...diamonds last forever :-)

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Gotchya..is diamond better than CrO?

My 2 cents...

You don't "need" to paste your strop. A shave ready razor fresh off the hone and a half decent strop will let you shave for around 3-4 months, maybe longer.

A pasted strop can allow you to prolong honing for some time (longer if you have really nice shaving technique), but it cannot do the work a hone can do. If you just want to do refresh and edge on an already sharp razor, then a barber's hone or 12k (or even an 8k) should do the job adequaly. If you damage the blade in any way (dropping it or hitting it on the faucet) then a barber's hone or 12k won't be the best to repair it.

If I were in your shoes, I would just get a razor, strop, soap and brush. This should last you for months. By the time your razor needs to be honed, you will have a much better idea of what direction you want to go in, whether it be sending it to a honemeister with a dozen hones and years of experience, or getting a barbers hone yourself, or a small set of hones.

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Originally Posted by CDogg

If you're only looking at maintaining one already-honed razor, a simple barber's hone, such as a Swaty, should last you a lifetime and be all you need to touch up your blade indefinitely.

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Also answered my question! Thanks a bunch! =D

+1 on Marks above post, don't worry so much about hones or honing at this time. You should concentrate on learning to use/strop the razor properly. When the time comes that you need hones or you would like to try honing to see if its for you, send me a PM. I have a lot of hones you can try out and see what works for you, as long as you understand I may not be able to answer a lot of questions as I am new to honing as well. Here is a list of what I have:
Swaty
Spyderco Ultra fine
Nortons 220/1K, 4/8K
DMT 1200
Naniwa SS 5K, 8K
3 Coti/BBW's
Thuringian
Chinese 12K
and have a few less than par razors to practice on/with. Offer is open to anyone in the Toronto or surrounding area.

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Originally Posted by Dllandry

+1 on Marks above post, don't worry so much about hones or honing at this time. You should concentrate on learning to use/strop the razor properly. When the time comes that you need hones or you would like to try honing to see if its for you, send me a PM. I have a lot of hones you can try out and see what works for you, as long as you understand I may not be able to answer a lot of questions as I am new to honing as well. Here is a list of what I have:
Swaty
Spyderco Ultra fine
Nortons 220/1K, 4/8K
DMT 1200
Naniwa SS 5K, 8K
3 Coti/BBW's
Thuringian
Chinese 12K
and have a few less than par razors to practice on/with. Offer is open to anyone in the Toronto or surrounding area.

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I might just have to take you up on that offer in the near future:)

You defenetly should take Dllandry´s offer
You get to try a lot of hones so you dont have to buy them all yourself
myself i had to try 4 systems before i found one i liked(and had to buy them myself)