Thread: Best Sharpening Stone

First off, I want to thank all of you for taking the time to help me. Your thoughts and suggestions have all contributed to my knowledge base. I have been on other forums and none of them have been as useful as this one. You are all to be congratulated, and I do so now. Congratulations.

Moving on, it seems fairly clear that there is a distinct order of things in getting started shaving with a straight razor: razor - strop(s) - hone in that order. I have the razor under control at least for now, so my next step is acquiring a strop(s). At this point I'm still a little confused. I thought a simple two sided strop - one side cloth the other leather - such as the DOVO strop at ClassicShaving.com was all that's necessary to keep an edge until honing with a stone. Now there's talk about strops at Tony's. Is one simple strop enough or is a combination hanging/board strop plus some kind of pasted board strop the way to go? Regarding types of strops I personally lean toward a hanging strop vs. an unimpregnated board assuming they are equally effective. The DOVO BTW is said to not require any preparation prior to first use. So gentlemen, your thought please. Thank you

Duke

Agreed in full.

Originally Posted by ForestryProf

I think what Joe was referring to was 'resetting the bevel', not taking the razor to a hone for a touch-up. The only time I've ever created/reset a bevel is either the first time out restoring a vintage blade or when the edge has somehow been damaged. Particularly with a razor that has not been used in some time, the edge oxidizes, is pitted and the fine edge becomes brittle. New steel has to be exposed for the blade to take and hold an edge. This is 'creating' a bevel.

Once a razor has been honed to shaving sharp. Regular use (assuming no damage to the blade by dropping it, hitting the faucet, etc...) will eventually dull the blade, but will do little to the geometry of the bevel. At this point you will need to revisit a hone, but only a very fine hone, and only for a touch-up. A swaty, coticule, escher will all work quite well and only a few strokes will be sufficient.

Just a matter of semantics,
Ed

Almost without exception a new razor will not be shave ready.
If you closely read the classicshaving website they clearly state this. You can also read this in an articlle by Arthur Boone on the knifecenter.com site. If you buy your razor from Classicshaving.com then take advantage of their sharpening service. They will send the razor to Lynn Abrams, the Founder of this group, and then you will know what sharp really is.

I thank you for clearly stating your needs. The guys here have given you a lot of good info. My take on your needs is as follows.
1. A hanging strop with linen for daily stropping just before shaviing. 20-30 roundtrip laps on the linen followed by 30-50 on the plain leather strop just before shaving.
2. When your razor starts to pull then you have several options.
a. An abrasive pasted paddle strop. The abrasives to use are 3.0, 1.0, 0.5 and 0.25 micron. This is the easiest to learn simply because the stroke is the same as what is used on the plain leather strop.
b. A fine/finishing Barbers hone. This is the least cost option but more difficult to learn to use effectively.
c. A Norton 4/8K hone. For you this would be overkill initially but it is the easiest hone to use, clean and keep flat.

You will not need to reset the bevel or recreate the edge unless you buy a new razor and don't have someone hone it for you, or you damage the edge or you decide to buy a vintage razor from Ebay or an antique store.

Welcome to the group!

Hope this helps,

BTW, www.billysblades.com is Bill Ellis website URL

www.thewellshavedgentleman.com is Tony Millers URL

Randt,

Thank you. Very succently put. Here's the one part of this I'm still trying to figure out:

In your post does purchasing option 2a negate the need to buy and use 2b and 2c? Does Does purchasing option 2b negate the need to buy and use 2a & 2c? And so on. In other words is buying a standard strop and ONE of the other 3 options all I will need to keep the razor sharp? Once I clearly know what specific equipment I need I'll be in a better position to decide between 2a,b,and c.

Duke

Originally Posted by gfoster

Just be careful about starting out with the feather with the interchangeable blades... that thing is sharper than hell and not a super great idea for starting out with a str8. Speaking from personal experience (yeah, I bought one to start with)... I traded mine to Joe and made us both happy.

You didn't trade it to this Joe.

One thing I should add is that the Feather may be an easier transition to str8s for a skilled DE user. These guys may otherwise be poor prospects for a str8. THey ae getting great shaves and suddenly go to the str8, which has a learning curve. Even after they get the feel of the razor, it's some time before the str8 shave gets as good as the DE shave. All that time they're frustrated and wondering why they're putting themselves through it. But the str8 shave has the potential to surpass their existing DE shave. If tehey go the Feather route they will be using a razor with a familiar feel and should get good shaves right after they get the feel of using a str8. The sharper edge will not be as much as a problem because they've already learned pressureless shaving. The difference is that this is even more pressureless (if that possible).

Duke,
If you buy 2a, you do not need 2b. If you buy 2b, you do not need 2a (assuming you buy a fine/finishing barber hone).

If you buy 2a or 2b for a Lynn sharpened razor; and you use a hanging strop for daily shaves; and touch up with your 2a or 2b purchase when the razor begins to tug, you will not need 2c for quite some time. Eventually your 2a or 2b purchase will not be able to touch up your razor sufficiently. Then you either need 2c, or to mail it to professional honer which will run about 20 bucks.

Just to clarify, use the hanging strop before every shave. After a week or so, the razor will begin to tug, then you touch up with 2a or 2b. After months of this routine, 2a and 2b will no longer be able to keep your razor tug free. That is when you mail out your razor or buy 2c.

Ah Ha, now I've got it. Thanks Texan. Now I know I need a plain hanging strop and a touching up paste board and then either a stone or have someone else sharpen it for me. So it is really a 3 stage process. It took awhile but the light finally shown through.

Since I'm at the first stage right now do you have a recommendation for a hanging strop? I was thinking about the DOVO at ClassicShaving only because they say it needs no preparation before first use - whatever that is. Also because it is Russian leather and that leather is supposed to be the best for the job. Is Russian leather better? If I go with something else what preparation is required? Thanks again.

Duke

The Dovo strops work fine. Tony (of paddle strop fame) also sells hanging strops. Handamerican makes a good hanging strop. I use an old Illinois hanging strop (also sold by classicshaving).

The "preparation" usually involves working the surface of the leather with strop paste, also sold by classicshaving on the same page as their strops. Whether your strop is "ready to use" or not, you will eventually need strop paste -- it's basically leather conditioner thats specially formulated for strops.

Russian leather has a good reputation, but this reputation dates back century or more and I'm not at all sure that the modern "russian leather" has any relation to the old stuff other than the name.

Check these out The Well Shaved Gentleman
He has a factory Second strop also that rolls up about the size of a soap cake and you can tie it with the leather thongs that come with it.
Just a thought (going in my suitcase,with the Swaty and paddle strop)