Thread: How best to start honing with shave ready razors?

Ian, will your wife forward the package I sent you that should arrive Friday at your DC address?

@Geezer... thanks for paying my salary!

@razorfeld - I'm actually here till the 17th, so no worries. I can't even begin to say thanks enough!

No thanks need. As you are beginning to realize this forum is most likely the most friendly and gentlemanly forum anywhere on the internet. Scrapping the face daily or so is the glue that binds the most diverse, sometimes odd, always well meaning collection of humans on the planet (this includes the lovely ladies in the Ladies Corner). And should extraterrestrial life ever really be revealed I'm sure we would welcome them and their views on daily depilatory duties with open arms and a lot of curiosity.

@razorfeld... you're not joking! Only been on this site for a few months, and met some amazing people. Loving the shaves, and loving the people even more.

when I first started only last June, I only used a small Crown Barbers hone for touch ups for the first several months about, this may be a better option for you also as they are small & portable,
then I got the Norton 4/8k as my first full size hone and it is great learning hone that can do learny all you want to do to keep you going, there are meany lads that will swear this is all you need to maintain a straight as you can get pretty smooth enough shaves from it

as I am also doing restores of dead blunt blades I then got the 1k Naniwa for bevel setting, as doing this on a 4k is slow
lastly early this year 1 got a 12K Naniwa to compliment my 8K finishes

I did it the hard way - learning to hone and shave at the same time... a long and frustrating road with lots of revelations and eureka moments.

I would get a cheapo eBay restorazor and start from the ground up. Learn to set a bevel first and master that then proceed to the higher grits.

Since I'm assuming you have no way of knowing how your razor was honed and what condition the bevel is in, touch ups with a 12k and CrO could work great or not at all. Plus you need to learn the strokes and get proficient at it especially if your just doing touch ups. Pressure is key and knowing how to change pressure and your strokes to get the whole bevel from heel to tip - it takes a lot of practice but it's not impossible and very rewarding in the end.

I maintain my razors with finishing stones mainly - occasionally I have to jump down to a lower grit (8 or 16k) to freshen up the bevel a bit more. Since I never use pasted strops my bevels stay pretty consistent. Once you have established that you have a solid bevel (tape or no tape - another decision you'll have to make), a finisher is all you should really need - but a 12k is a great place to start - you'll get the benefit of a faster stone that leaves a decently smooth edge.

In the end it all boils down to your budget and how much you want to delve into the hobby - go full on and get all the stones and learn everything or try the 12k approach and see if you can learn that and get by well.

John

Just get a barbers hone, some 1200 grit wet/dry sand paper and a small slab of granite or a thick piece of glass slightly larger than the sand paper for lapping. The barbers hone will help maintain the edge on your razor and also help you to start developing muscle memory for when you do start honing.

Originally Posted by BobH

If you want to be on the safe side add a 3K/8K Nani combo stone to the 12K and Crox and you should be good to go. That should cover everything from small dings/chips and bevel reset on up. That is assuming your honing skills will allow you to handle chips and bevel resets.

Bob

Exactly. I started with a Naniwa 12K SS for touchups. The more razors, the more the need to go down the ladder. That led to the 3/8K Naniwa combo. While I was there, I decided that an affordable King 1K was also in order. oh, and CrOx. I have yet to buy a lapping plate. I use varying grits of sandpaper, a marble slab and a pencil to grid lap.

At the time of my first purchase, Glen gave me some good advice. He advised me to buy a Nagura slurry stone(not expensive) to expand the utility of any stone I had(well, I add "any stone I had",). I can slurry the 12K to bring it down to something like a 10K-ish hone and work it up from there, but, in all honesty, I don't have the need to necessarily do that as I have a 3/8K Nani combo and the jump between the 8-12K nanis is seemless.

Originally Posted by MajorEthanolic

@BobH... considering I have NO honing skills, thus the question. Looking to dip my toes into the water before jumping in. Having bought 3 razors over the last 3 months, my wife is going to use one of the razors on me if I spend too much more.

Watch Lynn's vids on honing with Naniwa stones. You'll order before the video is done. That's how empowered I felt after viewing the vid. Still watch it. I find them beginner friendly and so do many others. Friends don't let friends overspend

You can’t go wrong with a 12K Super Stone.

But, if Ken is going to mentor you… do what Ken says.

Enjoy.