Thread: Beginners Tips: October 2011

Ahh the leaves are changing, the sweaters are coming out of the closets, thoughts are turning to Hunting for some of us, Fall what a great time of year

It is also a great time to think about learning to hone these wonderful mystical shaving instruments... You have some cold winter nights coming and it is a perfect time to sit back relax and start the process...

Now some things and questions I see most every day on the forum..

What stone should I get, and why can't I get my razor sharp ????

First off I always recommend 6 months of Straight Razor shaving before you start doing anything other than learning to shave After 6 months you should have enough experience to know if you are going to continue using SR's, and at least stand a chance of knowing if your honing is getting there ...

*Most Importantly* There is no secret, it ain't rocket science, it isn't like sharpening any other tool or knife, very simply put, "The more Straight Razors you hone, the better you get at honing Straight Razors" (Lynn Abrams)

So how to start???

First decide what you are going to do, there is an article in the WIKI about this here
What hone(s), paste(s), or spray(s) do I need? - Straight Razor Place Wiki

But here is the most recent version of it...

Some thoughts on honing razors..
Aspiring honers are often not clear about what they are trying to accomplish when it comes to honing razors. In particular, they are often unsure of what they are doing and how often they should be doing it. Some questions you might want to answer for yourself before you start buying hones: this also means that if you are not sure of the answer here, you should shave more, and wait to buy hones until you can answer these questions.... I normally recommend 6 months of shaving before even thinking about honing

■ Are you an "end-user"; someone who only hones a previously shave-ready blade back to shave-ready?
■ Are you a hobbyist who is chasing the absolute finest edge that may be obtained where money is no object?
■ Are you a frugal shaver who is after the cheapest way to complete your morning shave?
■ Are you a collector who needs to take E-bay specials from butt-ugly to shave-ready?
■ Are you a Honemiester; someone who gets paid to do all of these things for others?
■ Are you a razor restorer who needs to take damaged blades and bring them back to life and shave-readiness?

Each of these types of honer profiles have different requirements for the stones they will own. Theoretically, you can survive using the "one stone" approach, but each razor does have an optimum stone set - and more importantly, a technique for using the required hones. So generally, when somebody asks what stone or how to use what stone, the question to ask them is: "What are you trying to accomplish with the stone(S)?"

Refreshing vs. Starting from Scratch:

The types of hones required depends first and foremost on the type of honing you want to do.

Hones needed for refreshing a dull blade:

If the only task you want to perform is refreshing edges that have previously been established by a Honemiester (the process is often referred to as "touching up"), you need only get a fine grit finishing stone or a barber's hone for this. Either of these hones can be used to keep your razor(s) shave-ready for years.

Hones needed for restoring razors:

If you want to set a bevel, or have many different types of razors, you will need a full set of hones.


A bevel setting stone approximately 1k

DMT's 325 600 1200, Shapton 500, 1K and 2K, Coticules with slurry, Norton 1k, Naniwa 1k, King 1k Chosera 1k

A sharpening stone approximately 4k

Norton 4K, Shapton GS 4K Naniwa SS 3k or 5k, Belgian Blue with slurry, Coticule with slurry, King 4k or 6k Tam o Shanter, Dragon's Tongue,

A polishing stone approximately 8k

Norton 8k, Shapton 8k, Naniwa 8k, Yellow Coticule, Water of Ayre, Some of the Japanese Naturals, King 8k,

A finishing stone 10k and above (this is often subject to debate, however)

Shapton GS 16k-30k Shapton 15k Naniwa SS 10k-12k or Chosera 10k, Thuringen, Escher's, Many different natural Japanese finishers, Charnley Forest, Llyn Idwal, Extra Fine Coticule, Spyderco Extra Fine, even some of the Arkansas stones and to many others to name...

You have several choices of how to accomplish this setup whether you use natural, man-made stone, or a Diamond-style stone, even honing films, but you are going to have to be able to cover those 4 grit ranges. There really is no true shortcut here if you expect to take razors acquired in need of restoration from butter knife dull (or damaged) to shaving sharp: You are going to end up needing these types of stones.


Pastes can be used after the hones and before the final stropping also these can be used for re-freshing the edge before going back to the hones for a touch-up... Some shavers even use pastes to "sharpen" the razor after the bevel set has been done...

A few different types

Dovo Pastes:

Green 5-8 micron
Red 3-5 micron
Black 1-3 micron
Dovo pastes are a much more mild cutter then say a diamond paste of the same micron size...

Diamond Paste:

From 3 micron down to actually .10 micron if you really wanted to...
These pastes are fast and many people use them incorrectly and manage too get a harsh edge, when used correctly and on the right razor steel these will most likely be the sharpest edge you will ever feel...

Diamond sprays:

Mostly found in 1.0 .50 and .25 micron watch the Carat content here, the higher the better (SRD has the best I have found and yes Lynn and Don are friends of mine, but heck it is still the best spray I have found)

Chromium Oxide Paste/Powder .50 micron (CrOx)
Probably the most universal of the pastes, get the most pure you can find, and no the bars at Woodcrafters are not pure...

Cerium Oxide Paste/Powder (approx).25 micron (CeOx)

Super fine, super soft, and super smooth, polishing media...The bar at Woodcrafter's is of unknown quality at this time

Other Pastes and Powders:

Iron Oxide
Aluminum Oxide

Both of these can also be used again be very careful when buying this stuff as the purity and the micron sizes are very important...

Carbon blacking/lamp black:

This might be the oldest of all the sharpening "pastes" when used on a leather strop it increases draw

Wood Ash:

Another old fashioned one very slightly abrasive when used on Linen strops and Leather strops..

White chalk:

Can be rubbed on a linen strop to increase the abrasive qualities

Newspaper:

The ink itself is a very fine abrasive and so is the paper..

Keep in mind that different razor steels like/dislike different pastes, and the different media that is used to apply it including Balsa, Linen, Leather (paddle) Leather (hanger) and Felt paddle and hanger all give different results on different razor steels....

(This is not a complete list by any means and updates many times)

So once you decide on which type of honer yer going to be again how to start???

The easiest way to learn to hone is to learn to "Touch Up" a already shaving razor..
If you read a ton on the forum you know we always recommend having two SR's, so start honing with two shave ready razors... Put one aside, and shave the other until it starts to degrade.. Now take you weapon of choice (hone/stone) and start by touching up that razor ..
You have another "Shave Ready" to compare your edge too, sitting there waiting for you This method gives you the best chance of honing success, by starting honing, the same way as you started SR shaving, one small step at a time...

Many of you try and just jump in the deep end with both feet, that sink or swim mentality works for a very few... But keep in mind the journey is really where the fun is at, the destination is simply a clean shaven face..

Very well written Glen
I am about 4 months into Straight Razors
So far it has been everything you have said
I also tried to do it all in the beginning
That lasted about 2 weeks

Then I found SRP and all the helpful people here
Read a lot watched a heap of videos
Basically just absorb as much as possible

Now I am shaving daily with a straight
Even on days off ... never used to do that

Today I tried refreshing the edge of a razor
bought shave ready from one of our members
Also got a barber hone and strop
It has been a great experience using it
sadly my stropping technique probably didnt keep the edge sharp

Used a water based slurry on barber stone
And just went really carefully checking the edge every 3 to 4 strokes
Stropped on 0.50 diamond spray on pressed felt
Then to the leather strop
The edge I got seems to pop arm hair all along it
Going to shave with it later today
Probably post in shave of the day
Share the experience as they say

Thanks again for a great informative post
I got this one bookmarked

This is a great one Glen. Honing and such can be entirely confusing because there are so many mediums, especially at the beginning. There are also lots of systems to choose from, ie: Shapton, Norton, Naniwas, etc. The variables are intense.

I thought it may be worth mentioning that when you're entering the honing realm, each stone is a variable. I remember being confused by all of it when I started. If you have one stone, say a Naniwa 12k for touch-ups, you can learn that stone and understand it. When you add another stone to your mix, say an 8k, then you have the variable of the 12k, the 8k, and the mix between the 2....so if you try to learn two stones at the same time, you actually have three variables to work on....which can become confusing. "Did I do too many passes on the 8.....to little on the 12?.....too many on the 12, and too little on the 8....too many on both....too little on both".

I think I'm just meandering on what you've already posted....that you just need to sit down and think "What do I want to accomplish", before you set out. And when you do set out....take you're time, and take the time to learn your stones.

My two cents....hope that was ok of me to do.

You betcha Nathan

I'm sorry I forgot to add my normal saying at the end of the post

"Please feel free to add your opinions, especially you more senior members, Mentors, and Mods as many of us see things sometimes from a different angle, and the more opinions that the new guys get to read, the better for them...

Thanks as always for your down-to-earth practical information. I just finished 8 months of straight razor shaving and am very slowly learning to use hones to keep my professionally sharpened razors sharp. My newly acquired arsenal includes a Norton 220/1000, Norton 4000/8000, Swaty Barber Stone, SRD paddle strop, and TI diamond paste.

After a two-hour session with Larry Andro, I am now going to work on a junker Torrey razor he gave me to practice on.

I really admire your restorations and deeply appreciate all the help you give to all of us on SRP.

MUCH THANKS,

Originally Posted by gssixgun

You betcha Nathan

I'm sorry I forgot to add my normal saying at the end of the post

"Please feel free to add your opinions, especially you more senior members, Mentors, and Mods as many of us see things sometimes from a different angle, and the more opinions that the new guys get to read, the better for them...

Or maybe 'at this point in time'....hehehe

I have been lurking for a while, and I finally got around to registering today just so I could ask about the razor in the picture at the beginning of this article...I cannot quite make out what the name says on the tang, any information about this razor? Oh and great article, btw!

http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...can-steel.html

There ya go that is thread it came from

Ahh thank you so much! Now I can begin hunting...I absolutely love the look of those scales!

Brilliant guide Glen, I can understand this completely as I've just managed getting some really good edges from my coti, and thats me hooked. I don't think I'll even buy another stone. Thats after trying no brand synthetics, Naniwa's SS's, and a chinese 12k in the last 8 months - I've been shaving for 18 months now.

But your absolutely right about as least things at a time: master lathering, shaving, stropping then touch up honing, then - the most difficult bit I think and most time consuming - choose your bevel setting/sharpening stones; natural/synthetic, then the multitude of brands and mined hones to choose from, then mastering them, it took me 2 months to start getting really nice edges from my coti.

But thats all to look forward to. Take it slow and don't overburden yourself with too many things at once. But trial and error seems to be the only and quickest way to learn straight shaving... obviously after you've came to SRP for some sound advice from the experts of course

happy shaving
Alex