Thread: My current collection of hones.

Originally Posted by Razorfeld

All the experts I have talked to say don't go to a 12k until you feel you have gotten as much as you can from a 4/8k combo. After a year of straight shaving I embarked on learning to hone from bevel to shave ready on a King 1k for bevel setting and the Norton 4/8k combo. After running the same razor three times thru them and a second one time I finally started getting a decent, if not a little harsh shave after the 8k. When I can get a smooth shave from the 8k I'll think of investing in a 12 or 20k for extra smoothness. Close id the name of the game, smooth is an extra in my book.

I agree with Razorfeld here but somewhere along the way the discussion took a turn for the worse. I am NOT belittling anyone who has a large collection of stones, as long as they know what each one is for and how it is used. Don't think for a minute that I don't know the value of a good stone or multiple for that matter, I have a large collection myself. I quote my grandfather quite often and this is no different, he would tell me to start collecting tools but not just to collect them but to learn how to care for them and use them in the manner they were intended. Over the years I have had hand planes, chippers, chisels, rasps, hammers, mallets, finishing hammers, wood mallets, penning hammers etc. I could have built an ark with all the wood working tools. That counts double for metal working tools, each and every one of them had a stone that was for that particular tool or type of tool. Growing up on a farm we mended anything that broke and if we needed a particular tool or what ever, we fabricated it. The underlying point to all of this is that I KNEW how to use every single tool or piece of farm equipment known and the same goes for sharpening stones. The point I was trying, not very well obviously, to get across is that someone new to straight razors needs to stick with the fundamentals of shaving and stropping not going out and collecting stones that he has no idea how to use, that's like giving a 16 year old boy with a learners permit the keys to a Ferrari and telling him to go "learn" to drive, "oh, and if you have any problens just call". Yes, I concede the point that having a 1K along with a 4/8K is good idea but for someone who has yet to master stropping IS IT? After mastering the fundamentals, starting to hone is a good idea but start off with the bare essentials and learn those before going out and buying the next one. If I have offended anyone with ANYTHING I have said, that was not the intention and I apologize.