Thread: Which Finishing Stone or Barber's hone should I get?

Originally Posted by Bram

the simple answer is: No. but it's not that much work ánd you have someone who is willing to help out. believe me, you are in a luxury position

(I would advice the 10 or 12 K naniwa SS and a practice razor as well)

Flattening a stone is pretty elementary stuff. Some sandpaper and a sheet of glass is really all which is necessary. The "how to" can be found all over YouTube.

The only vendor I know who sells a "pre lapped" hone is Superior Shave. Then too, he pretty much specializes in coticules, which by the way, are well within your budget (<$100, if you aren't adamant about a 3" wide stone).

Indeed, a coticule is the one stone which can truely "do it all". There is a small learning curve, but rocket science it ain't. Truth be told, if you utilize the "small circle" strokes as demonstrated by Lynn Abrams, the need for a 3" wide hone is hardly necessary. Just another suggestion.....

When I am wanting to learn something new, I look for someone of experience to "show" me.

I will be blunt: You would be out of your mind to not go and visit Airportcopper for some mentorship. This is a generous offer.

I personally only believe in stones and not pastes...and I have tried most all of them as well as most stones. Make that visit to Airport copper and see what he recommends. Once you have become proficient, then expand your knowledge by experimentation...but you MUST develop a foundation first. Most of us here are willing to offer you advice, but being shown and interaction with a fellow wet shaver is priceless.

The "Stone/Hone" you chose is a little importance there are many that will do what you are asking

The skill to Re-fresh / Maintain a SR for years on end is also minimal


The problem is that it is hard for many to disconnect between "Honing" and "Maintenance"

To be honest I maintained two SR's for well over 20 years using a very nice Arkansas stone and no internet connection it is pretty easy -BUT-the edges I considered good then are by no means in the same ballpark of what I consider good now..

This entire hobby is a matter of degrees, if you want to just shave then buy any of the stones mentioned that fit your budget and learn to use it.. The way things are now for costs involved, and how they have changed over the last 5 years, I would be over at Woodcraft looking at their PHIG's trying to find a nice one and be done with it at under $40
A Barber's hone used to be the best cost effective option, but anymore the prices are nutzo and you can't snag a nice one for the $5-$10 that you could just a few years back...

One on one instruction is priceless, but make sure you explain exactly what your goal is ...


ps: Flattening a stone / hone is also something that is a matter of degree, we here tend to get a bit obsessive about it, to simply maintain a razor one lapping session with a few pieces of 320 or 400 Wet or Dry and a flat wet surface, should last you for years...

Take Frank up on his offer to help.

He has the knowledge of learning from some true masters who live in the area.

He has some great rocks from synthetic to coticule to jnat.

That might help you to decide what you want to purchase.

He is willing to show you in person and that will save you countless headaches, questions whether you think you are doing things correctly and TIME.

It's a no brainer. Hope to seee you at our next get together as well.

by the way ,, yes you can rely on someone else to hone them for you., I don't hone at all other than stropping I don't even maintain yet been doing I for a year so far and I haven't spent as much as a good stone , its what your willing to do ,, myself I like my razors the way I get them now I just don't need to invest in hones when a pro charges so little for all the equipment but that's just me YMMV tc

Ok,

Think I might've decided on what to try out. I've also procured a "beginners" razor that has a few very very small nicks in the blade to test out on. However aside from the my choice, I assume I'll either need sandpaper or a lapping stone since that's apparently required when using a sharpening stone....which means more money spent. Any suggestions on a lapping stone to get? Preferably something cheap that'll just get the job done? Or does what lapping stone I get depend on the stone I'm using to hone? =/

To clarify to anyone reading this,

I am not looking to make a collection or start this as a hobby.
This is strictly just maintenance to keep my razor shave-ready.
I'm not picky with how it looks so long as it performs well.
As for a meet-up with Copter, I'm a bit iffy about that. Bad experiences in the past and severe social anxiety. Maybe one day if I stick around these forums but for now, I wouldn't be able to bring myself to go.

Don't bother with a lapping stone, They work for a while then they start to deform and dish.

Wet and dry sandpaper is all you need. Pick up a pack of 400 grit to start with. It'll do everything you want it to do and more. You can get higher grits or a pack of multiple grits to test at your leisure.

The lapping method is called grid lapping. Take a pencil and draw a grid on the hone. Then put some water on your glass and put the paper on top (the water will hold the paper in place). Then put more water on top of the paper with a little dish soap. Rub the hone in a figure of 8 motion, After a few loops have a look at the hone face. You should see the pencil lines been worn off. Once the whole grid is gone do a second grid and you should find it comes off with only a couple of figure of 8's. The hone is now flat and prepped.

The beginners razor is a good choice. Your going to have to learn to hone and it's a lot of watching video's.

Gssixgun and Lynn Abrams are 2 channels on youtube you should watch. They both talk about what they do as they do it. And the video's will make a lot of sense once you have all your equipment ready.

Since you can't do the meeting I would get the 10K hone and the King 1/6. Or just a 4/8 norton, or 3/8 Naniwa. You should be able to do most of your work on any of these stone combinations. None is better than the other, but the King system will be faster at repairing your new razor and have a smoother finisher for working your good razor on. The combo stones are better for people who want to expand their hones to be a full system and in that respect there a cheap middle stone when the ultimate goal is the addition of a 1K and 12K hone to complete the rotation.

The king stone needs to be soaked for a few mins before you hone or lap. The 10K only needs to be sprayed and has 0 soak time.

I have purposefully sorted that razor from last night using my nearest stones to this rotation today.

King 1K was about 20 laps, and 3 sets of circles to having a bevel set (you may need more or less depending on how the bevel on that new razor is). (Your Dovo does not need to go on this stone ATM).

The 6K side took 20 laps again, and 2 sets of circles gssixgun style to get set. Then on the same stone I did 20 very light laps. (your dovo does not need to go on this stone ATM.)

Then I went to my 12K stone. I did 30-40 laps with a slurry, then I did 30 laps on pure water. The razor is now ready to be stropped and is passing the HHT at a 2 without having been stropped.

For the dovo, just do rounds of 10 light laps on the 10K stone without a slurry, Then do 15 on Linen and 40 on leather and test shave. Continue to do this till the razor feels ready. Get the new razor shaving before you try this tho as you may have to go back to the 6K stone or even the 1K stone if you catch the edge on the side of the stone, or fail a flip, or just mess up a stroke. It happens and is part of the learning to hone process.



Sorry for making you spend money. But you will never wear your stones out, so consider them lifelong investments.

Originally Posted by Smac3223

Ok,

Think I might've decided on what to try out. I've also procured a "beginners" razor that has a few very very small nicks in the blade to test out on.

And there is why everyone was giving so many options and the list was getting longer by the minute of what hone to buy with that purchase you just changed your own honing dynamic from "Maintenance" to "Honing" (unless you are planning on sending it to be honed and then maintain it)

This is common on here, many people start with an ideal, and end up getting in deeper with each purchase now you are well on yer way to being as bad as the rest of us Welcome Aboard !!!!

Originally Posted by gssixgun

And there is why everyone was giving so many options and the list was getting longer by the minute of what hone to buy with that purchase you just changed your own honing dynamic from "Maintenance" to "Honing" (unless you are planning on sending it to be honed and then maintain it)

This is common on here, many people start with an ideal, and end up getting in deeper with each purchase now you are well on yer way to being as bad as the rest of us Welcome Aboard !!!!

Yup, and a little bit more reading and research never hurts....

Just a thought on the OP's opening post. I truly feel you are perhaps not stropping enough. Double up on it, 40 on the fabric, 100 on the leather. It may just come around. A good stropping regimen should keep a properly honed blade shaving well indefinitely. The money spent to send to Lynn once in a blue moon is less than delving into hones and, if stropped properly, should go a long while.
Just my observation and another option.