Thread: need stone advice

So i don't have much money but need a hone ebay has a 1000 and 8000 combo stone its no nane on it but its 34bucks will that be feasible? Im buying vintage razors and making them shave ready will this work ? And please don't tell me i need the best some possible I've had people on here say it to me and it's not appreciated i don't have much money any help greatly appreciated

1k/8k is not practical by itself. It's too big of a jump so you are going to need something in between. If you are going to be honing ebay razors, a good bevel setter is a must unless you want to spend a lot of time creating chipped edges. The grit number is only part of the story on ANY hone, so don't assume that anything labeled "1000" is going to work. Some will and some won't.

The Arashiyama 1k at ChefKnivesToGo is a very good 1k hone for half the price of a Naniwa Chosera. That and a Norton 4k/8k combo hone would be all you would ever need. If you want/need cheaper than that you can do it all on a decent barber hone like a Swaty but that is going to take more time to learn and to do.

Good luck with it whatever way you choose to go and you are right, this stuff does not have to be expensive, but some investment is going to be needed to make it work.

If you are trying to work a budget, the cheapest is probably to get two razors honed by someone else and then maintain them with a barbers hone and perhaps a CrOx pasted strop. It has been said you can go for many years that way. Getting a couple of razors honed isn't going to break the bank, in fact I bet you could get it done for postage, and as far as the barbers hone goes $30 to $50 and you'll be golden.

No i live in Canada and every thing hits customs and the only shop to do honing i went to and paid 40 bucks.

Perhaps you could send them to someone in Canada. Phrank uses someone in the East, but even if you went west there are guys that have a honing shingle hanging out. I know Catrentshaving in Edmonton does a pretty fantastic job. There are others that hone just not as a business. It is not too big to get past.

OK thank you could i use 2cm hard stones? Going from 1k to 3k to 8k to 12k?

The only problem... real problem I see with cheaper hones is that they aren't always flat. Not that expensive ones are either, but the level of "not flat" can present you some huge problems. A DMT in the hundreds of grit is a great place to start even if it is expensive because A. you can use it to lap your other stones (lesser stones), B. use it to set bevels.

I mean I bought a cheap stone and began lapping it on the driveway is was so freaking warped! But after that fiasco and a little DMT love - it's proven to be a very good stone for me.

As for jumping from 1K to 8K - that's just not a good idea. I would go DMT then a combo 4/8K or 3/8.

Anyway - that's my take - good luck brother!!

What about lapping film?

Originally Posted by TimS

What about lapping film?

Good idea if you can get it to work - wasn't my favorite. But I just thought of something else too OP. Oshawa, Pickering, Ajax all have a ton of Antique shops. Take some time - you might be shocked. You can also visit some Sally Annes or Good Wills, you just never know.

If you want to get started honing on the cheap you might consider the King 1000 or 1200 for bevel setting and then move to the King 6000.
The Kings are not the ultimate waterstones but their availability is good and they are capable of getting an Ebay or antique store razor to shave again.
The 1000 may have a few "rocks" imbedded in it but they can be dug out with a sharp point and the very small resulting hole will not be noticed while honing.
I am not saying you will find these defects in a King 1000 but you might.
The 6000 that I used had no issues and worked well enough.
The key to learning how to hone is to come to a point where you don't blame the hone's deficiencys for your lack of expertise.
Learn how to vary your honing strokes to concentrate your efforts on the areas of the edge that needs extra attention.
Get the bevel even in width on both sides and to very sharp and then a few more strokes with a rolling X pattern with light and then very light contact with the 1000 and then move to the 6000.
Having made the necessary corrections to the bevel with the 1000 you should be able to finish with rolling X strokes on the 6000, finishing with very little to almost no pressure.
You can shave off the 6000 but it will definitely not be a smooth shave.
The use of a leather strop and some chromium oxide are capable of smoothing out the edge.
Shave a bit off the 6000 to find out what sharp is and then smooth out the edge by stropping. If you lose sharpness due to poor stropping technique, go back to the 6000 for a few very light strokes, and try the stropping again.
Also you will find that getting an exceptable shave with minimal gear will probably be easier if you start with a blade made of English steel.
The German, USA, and Swedish steels are more challenging to get to shave smoothly.
Also your time and money will be wasted by trying to learn on Pakistan and Chinese made razor lookalikes.
This post got to be much much longer than I anticipated but I hope that I have steered you in a direction that will give you some satisfaction.