Which Finishing Stone or Barber's hone should I get?
Basically I'm looking to just keep my straight-razor shave-ready.
I know this may sound odd but I got my Straight razor and strop + brush back in December for Christmas.
I've seen the logo "Vintage Blades" so I'm guessing that's where they got it from. The blade itself has a logo that reads, "Solingen Best Quality" and towards the handle it says Dovo "Made in germany" and the blade itself came flawless. Since then...I haven't honed it.
Before and after each shave I'd simply go through each part of the strop for a bit, cotton side around 15 strokes, canvas side about 20 and leather about 50. Basically I shave maybe...once or twice a week and generally have no problems at all. I do get a bit of razor burn towards the bottom right/left of my neck but my hair swirls and turns there so it's rather difficult to go with the grain...but I digress.
The blade still seems to work fine and shave well but evidently from everywhere I hear honing it will make things even smoother and give a more easy shave. I've read through the wiki that's commonly posted and it says for instances where a hone is needed to "refresh" a blade that, "you need only get a fine grit finishing stone or a barber's hone for this. Either of these hones can be used to keep your razor(s) shave-ready for years."
That being said...suggestions on a Finishing Stone or Barber's hone?
tl;dr version
- Have blade for many months
- Never honed, only stropped
- Don't need anything fancy, just want it to perform well
- Suggestions?
NOTE: I'm looking to get the most "bang for my buck" so to speak. I'd like to keep the price as far under $100 as possible while still having it perform well enough