Thread: Beginner sharpening question

I recently purchased a straight and a premium II strop from SRD. I have been shaving and stropping for a little over a week and everything is going well. Still learning as I expected, but I need some advice. I have read about different ways to freshen up the razor when I will need to such as pastes, barber hones, etc. Eventually I will try to hone, but for the foreseeable future I will send back to SRD. What is a solution (I know there are many) to refreshing my blade and when I do take on honing have this solution fit right in? I don't like to buy anything with planned obsolescence. Thanks,

Most will recommend Barber's Hones. I have some but have never used them. If you are eventually going to be honing your own blades, then I would recommend the Naniwa SS 12K stone. It will serve you well as a finisher when you begin honing, and for now it will enable you to easily refresh your edge when it starts to pull and tug.

I would also recommend a Naniwa SS 12k. It is an excellent finisher and refreshing hone. It's user friendly and versatile.

I have to agree with these other guys. If I could start all over again I would make the Naniwa 12,000 super stone my first and possibly only hone.

TigerRD,

+++1 on the Naniwa 12K SuperStone

Have fun !

Best regards

Russ

++++1, I did exactly that, I got the naniwa 12K and then got the 8K, 5K and 1K as I needed them (well i haven't actually needed or used the 1K yet, but got it anyway.

+++++1 on the naniwa ss 12k. i got one along with some norton stones when i started honing and i used it to freshen up my shave ready razors that hadn't been refreshed since i bought them. 10 nice even laps and they were like they were when they arrived to me.

A cheaper solution is a pasted strop. however, i would lean more in the SS direction as you'll be able to use it for a honing progression when you get to that stage

+5.

I got a Chinese Natural when I first started, as I didn't know that it held the record for being the slowest stone on the market. It was cheap, and has served its purpose over the years, but I wish I had purchased a little higher in quality. It's still on my list to pick up!

The advice to get a Naniwa 12k is great--it's considered a "forgiving" stone, that is, your technique doesn't have to be impeccable like it does with some finishers. I have one and love it. Get at least a 10x hand lens too, and monitor your honing. The commonest first-time honer's mistake, I think, is to use too much pressure. Look at your edge with the hand lense, inspect the whole length of it, then do 10 strokes with only blade-weight pressure and look it over with the hand lens again. This is to convince you, with your own eyes, that just a few laps at minimum pressure ARE effective.

The more common solution for touching up a blade that's starting to pull is a pasted strop. CrOx is considered to give a gentler edge than does diamond; that is my experience as well. You could easily spend the same for another strop as you would for the Naniwa (about $80.00). However, many people put CrOx on a slab of flattened balsa and strop on that. You can get a piece of treated balsa and 11g tub of CrOx for $16.00 at The Superior Shave or the Poor Man's Strop Kit at Whippeddog for $19.00. Or you can just get some CrOx paste from wherever and a piece of balsa at a hobby store and do it yourself. Flatten the balsa on fine sandpaper against glass or some other flat surface.

If you opt for the Naniwa you'll have to flatten that too. Check out honing in the Wiki for more info on that .

No need to rush-order any of this stuff--careful stropping should keep you going for a while.

You might want to consider the $48.00 Sight Unseen deal from Whippeddog. This is a shave-ready vintage straight razor (you don't get to choose it) and poor man's strop kit. The razor won't be pretty but it will shave like it should. That will give you something to use when your other one is out for honing, and also a lesser blade to practice on when you start honing for yourself.

Don't buy any of the cut-down hones from Whippeddog, though. It takes more skill to get good results on a small hone. Save up for a proper full-sized one.

Best wishes to you.