Thread: General advice

Another site I have used.

https://www.sharpeningsupplies.com/S...Stones-C1.aspx

Originally Posted by animeist

Ah thats really handy, thanks for that. Will definitely be giving that ago when I receive my razor

One reminder ... try the new razor once before stropping or anything.
Wipe any excess oil with a fold of tissue and shave the easy bits of your face.


The reason is some small percentage of folk dull the edge by stropping incorrectly
and miss the opportunity to shave with a razor honed and stropped by someone
with a lot of practice.

At one time factory edges were terrible today most makers deliver a good razor.
Perhaps not as good a some here can do and expect but way better than the old days.
A hand honed blade is worth the extra care. If nothing else the seller has inspected
and held the blade and should it have a problem can send it back to the maker
and deliver a better one to you.

Originally Posted by eddy79

Diamond plates like the atoma 400 or dmc 325 are easy to use and will last a lifetime. Wet and dry can be used on a counter top or substrate like a flat glass plate or marble tile.

Both options work and if only honing occasionally then w & d is a cheaper alternative. The plates can ne used in the sink though which does help keep the mess down

Thanks for that help. I greatly underestimated how much there was to learn and how many different tools/materials lol.
I am glad everything in this way of life/hobby last for so long haha


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Originally Posted by niftyshaving

Welcome.

+1 to find a local... advice above.

Once the razor is correctly honed a touch up once in two months may only need a single good 12K hone
like the Naniwa 12k or Shapton 10K hone...

If you go with the Norton combo 4k/8k hone your can get great edges with the pyramid method.
A new Norton Combo can be helped by wearing the surface down by the thickness of heavy paper
to get past the surface effect from the release stuff used to make the hone.
You may find bargains for name brand Japanese hones because you are closer. The sushi guys
love hones in the 8K to 10K range so visit good knife shops.

Do shop for hones knowing that a set of hones from a single maker will work better than a mix
of makers. You can start near the fine end, 8k or 12k, and be happy for years adding one or two as needed
or wanted. The extreme fine stones in the range 18K to 30k are crazy expensive and often need an 8k or so to set
the stage for them.

If your honemaster services are too far and too expensive start with a 4/8 Norton or 3/8 naniwa combo hone.
In the US there are many honing services just a short inexpensive round trip via the post so in the US a
12K would be my recommendation for a single shaver's hone to maintain a well honed razor.


Have fun.

Yeah, so far Oz is the closest one I know of, but he is a bit far away, so when I have the money I'll send my razor off to him. Plus he comes pretty highly recommended.

Good thing my birthday is coming up, sounds like I have a few hones to ask for haha

I have never been to a knife shop. So I will have a look into that and maybe make a few calls.

Thanks for all the help


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Originally Posted by eddy79

Another site I have used.

https://www.sharpeningsupplies.com/S...Stones-C1.aspx

That's the website I keep looking at. Seems like it has really reasonable prices including the postage.


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Originally Posted by niftyshaving

One reminder ... try the new razor once before stropping or anything.
Wipe any excess oil with a fold of tissue and shave the easy bits of your face.


The reason is some small percentage of folk dull the edge by stropping incorrectly
and miss the opportunity to shave with a razor honed and stropped by someone
with a lot of practice.

At one time factory edges were terrible today most makers deliver a good razor.
Perhaps not as good a some here can do and expect but way better than the old days.
A hand honed blade is worth the extra care. If nothing else the seller has inspected
and held the blade and should it have a problem can send it back to the maker
and deliver a better one to you.

I guess if I try and use it as you said, it would give me some idea of how it is meant to feel and give me a baseline of what to keep it at.

Still learning to strop at the moment. When I feel that I am confident with that I will move on to honing. Going to do what Oz suggested and practice with a piece of newspaper.


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After you are confident on the newspaper (or even from the outset), try placing your strop flat on a counter top and use it as a paddle strop. That way strop tension is one less thing to concentrate on FWIW
If you are posting your razor and don't have a box, try using a plastic toothbrush holder from a cheap shop and a couple of silica gel packs from a shoe shop to keep it safe in transit.
I love Naniwa hones and this is where I've bought them - (this is the 8K listing)
JAPANESE Naniwa Ebi super stone sharpening whetstones no stand opt 9, chef knife | eBay
He also has Shaptons and Suehiros as well and my advice would be to get to know someone who has a few different hones or several people who have only one brand of hones and get them to teach you/let you use their hones, just so that you can get a feel for what suits you, if that makes sense.
I would not be even looking at learning to hone for at least six to twelve months if I had my time over and knew what I know now...hehehe
Keep us all posted and, if you move to Brisbane, I'll only be too happy to help.

Originally Posted by Havachat45

After you are confident on the newspaper (or even from the outset), try placing your strop flat on a counter top and use it as a paddle strop. That way strop tension is one less thing to concentrate on FWIW
If you are posting your razor and don't have a box, try using a plastic toothbrush holder from a cheap shop and a couple of silica gel packs from a shoe shop to keep it safe in transit.
I love Naniwa hones and this is where I've bought them - (this is the 8K listing)
JAPANESE Naniwa Ebi super stone sharpening whetstones no stand opt 9, chef knife | eBay
He also has Shaptons and Suehiros as well and my advice would be to get to know someone who has a few different hones or several people who have only one brand of hones and get them to teach you/let you use their hones, just so that you can get a feel for what suits you, if that makes sense.
I would not be even looking at learning to hone for at least six to twelve months if I had my time over and knew what I know now...hehehe
Keep us all posted and, if you move to Brisbane, I'll only be too happy to help.

How would I hold it down on the benchtop? Tape?

I didn't even think about transport, thanks for that little tidbit. Lucky I have one razor box that all the razors can fit in.

Cheers for the link for the stones. Seems like the cheapest so far.

Luckily I have a couple of cheap razors I got of eBay that I am going to practice with when I start honing.


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[QUOTE=animeist;1754418]How would I hold it down on the benchtop? Tape?/QUOTE]

If you need to tape it down you're stropping too hard
Just holding it down at one end with the spare hand is all you need do.

[QUOTE=onimaru55;1754440]

Originally Posted by animeist

How would I hold it down on the benchtop? Tape?/QUOTE]

If you need to tape it down you're stropping too hard
Just holding it down at one end with the spare hand is all you need do.

Lol my strop had a slight crease in it, that kind of bows a little bit. So I was more asking to just keep that bit flat.


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