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

Yep Crox, Diamond spray, CBN all good maintenance tools. I would however suggest a good barbers hone. Little more cash outlay but will do what you want and more. Won't hurt to read up on them while your looking but the short of it is you can take a non shaving blade and bring it back to life with the right barbers hone. They are out there and pop up in the classifieds here once in awhile. Place a want add or the shout out here might get somebody to offer you a good one.

Welcome aboard,,,,,,,,,
In your situation, I would go with any man made waterstone of 10K or higher,,, maybe even a Norton 8K,,, for maintaining your edge. I don't recommend a barber hone for you, JMO.

@Iceni

I've only one razor and strop so sending it out would likely take too long as my work requires me to be clean shaven. I can usually shave, then wait 3 days before it's noticeable and have to shave again. Also buying a second strop seems like it'd end up being quite pricey....my current strop though has 2 layers, one that's a nylon webbing and then the canvas/leather. Couldn't I simply just get the diamond spray and use it on one side of the nylon and designate that particular side as the "spray side"?

Also why the choice of spray over barbers hone?

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@10Pups

You claim Crox and spray and such are good but ultimately seem to suggest a barbers hone.
Any reason as to why?

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@Hirlau

Thanks for the welcome, but onto what you posted...
You go against what both previous posters have recommended and suggest a waterstone, reasons?
I also ready in the widely posted wiki that the Norton stones used to be all well and good but others have come out that render them..."less useful". Not to mention everywhere I look claims Norton Waterstones do not come flattened and I'd need to buy additional stones/surfacs in order to grind it down and make it useable. Something I'd rather not do as I'm trying NOT to spend a fortune.

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Thanks so far for the input guys, hope to keep it coming!

gotta agree with Hirlau,
I started with a barbers hone also for the lower initial outlay price,
but if you get a full sized 8"x3" 12K etc hone ( for not much more money really ) for pure touch ups it will be a hell of a lot easier to learn & use, as it covers the full blade & you won’t need to do anywhere near the number of strokes or such a big X stroke to achieve the same finish
then if you want to go further into restores etc invest in a lower grit hone to suit like the 8k etc


edit: I only use 320 Wet & Dry paper for lapping my hones ( 1k 4/8K & 12K ) flat on a thick sheet of glass you can use a flat bench top even for no extra outlay really

the hone is recomended over a pasted strop as the stone keeps your blade flat & crisp and the pasted strop will & does tend to roll the edge slightly over time, so you will need to resort back to a stone eventually anyway.

I do have & use a Chrox & Ferrox pasted Balsa strop after the 12K as my final step before going to felt & leather, but I don't use any pastes or sprays etc on my hanging strop to avoid rolling the edge
JMO

Hard to go wrong with a Naniwa 12k SS. It should do exactly what you want and then some. Another option would be a Zulu Grey which would perhaps allow you more (for lack of a better term) flexibility in that you can use a slurry or plain water to bring an edge back up to speed.

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Originally Posted by Smac3223

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

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My friend I'm about 20 mins from you.. Any help u need ill help u out and hook u up,with the local guys that meet quite often.. Feel free to contact me

or,,,,,, he can get a Norton 4/8 & with the instructions available on SRP, he can fix any minor discrepancies with the bevel or a factory edge,,,, & touch up his edge,,,;)

@Substance

Definitely not looking to get into restores or anything like that. This is less of a hobby but more-so a solution to shaving for me.

Disposables were absolutely horrid and shed quite a bit of blood
Refillables were easy but didn't get as close, plus pricey to keep buying the cartridges
Straight razors need time which helps me relax and relieve stress, plus closer than any other method

Also again I'm not looking to spend too much dosh on this. If I'm to buy a waterstone of some sort I'd prefer a company that sends them flat from the factory and not require additional tools to be purchased. That being said if I was to purchase a 12K waterstone it'd be the only piece of equipment I'd be getting at this time as it's towards the height of my budget.

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@Phoenix51

Naniwa 12K is at the height of my budget so as mentioned above, it'd be the only thing I'd be purchasing.
As for the Zulu Grey for a 3 inch stone it's already $150 which is above my budget =/

I'll keep the Naniwa in mind however

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@Iceni

I decided to take a look at the website on the card that came with my razor and found it here.
Claims it's "Professionally Honed" so not sure how much that tells ya.

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this service is provided by Lynn Abrams, one of most renowned “Honemeisters” in the world. Lynn has experience honing every type of quality razor made today as well as all vintage razors

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Your golden on your honing :D Lynn is the most highly regarded honer on the face of the earth :D.

Your bevel is definitely set, Your clear for hones!

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Originally Posted by Hirlau

or,,,,,, he can get a Norton 4/8 & with the instructions available on SRP, he can fix any minor discrepancies with the bevel or a factory edge,,,, & touch up his edge,,,;)

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True meet up IMO are so valuable in this hobby 2 hrs with someone can knock months off of reading..

@Iceni

So with my bevel set, would you be standing by your suggestions or alter?
Hirlau seems somewhat adamant on just getting a WaterStone and that being it.

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@Airportcopper

Thanks for the offer man, but what would your suggestion being on what to purchase? Can't necessarily run to someone else every time I need a honing can I? =p

All stones need to be lapped before initial use except diamond stones

I would not suggest getting a gold dollar to learn to hone. To many possible and likely issues which the beginner will not know how or that he needs to fix and thus may never seen an edge and get frustrated thinking he is doing it wrong.

For just touchups on a budget without delving into naturals, either a paddle strop with pastes or a quarter norton or full size norton. Or naniwa 12k. You could go the barber hone route if you want but that's up to you and I personally don't like them.

Or you can get a piece of glass and some lapping film for a tight budget

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Originally Posted by Smac3223

@Iceni

So with my bevel set, would you be standing by your suggestions or alter?
Hirlau seems somewhat adamant on just getting a WaterStone and that being it.

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@Airportcopper

Thanks for the offer man, but what would your suggestion being on what to purchase? Can't necessarily run to someone else every time I need a honing can I? =p

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Keep in mind that my advice varies on who is asking the question,,, my advice to Iceni or Airportcopper would not be the same as my advice to you. They can already hone,,, you are new to this & I gave a suggestion that I felt would be the easiest method for you.

As they say, "All roads lead to Rome." but some can be a little difficult for one who has never visited before.

I suggested Barbers hone because in 5 or 6 strokes you can refresh your blade just fine. If you ever need more for some reason it will be possible with the right B hone. You haven't had any problems learning to strop obviously so with copper's help you could easily learn. Pastes and all that are great at a more frequent level of use but more bang for the buck on a hone. If you planned on doing restores (which I didn't hear in your post) then yes start collecting hones and a 12k would be a good start. You have been using it so I would say the bevel is set sure enough. Airportcopper has given you the best option so far. I am not sure what all he has but he can help you learn to use what ever you get and that is a very valuable help :<0)

Sunday we took a blade from chip in the heel to shave ready with a Frictionite stone. These are very expensive now but there are others that will do the same thing. There are many directions you could go but my advice is based on what I perceived in your post. You want 1 thing to keep your razor going at a low cost and I included with the least amount of hassle in my opinion.

All the answers have been great but, it is up to you to decide where your going with all this and what might work out best for your long range plans.

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Originally Posted by Hirlau

Keep in mind that my advice varies on who is asking the question,,, my advice to Iceni or Airportcopper would not be the same as my advice to you. They can already hone,,, you are new to this & I gave a suggestion that I felt would be the easiest method for you.

As they say, "All roads lead to Rome." but some can be a little difficult for one who has never visited before.

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I am with Hirlau.

I note that you are struggling with the why though.

Here is why I agree with "he who is Hirlau.". Barbers hones are all great. Diamond pastes are all great too. But nothing is as versatile and " intuitive " to those who aren't as experienced as some than a synthetic is.

I personally think the 10k fits the bill very well. With a stubborn blade, a bit of pressure then light strokes work great for me. Otherwise simple light stokes work well. But yeah - a 12 or 8 works to.

"Knowing your rock" is key - getting to know a synthetic 9 times out of 10 is easier than most other methods... But there is always that 10% lol!

Good luck and welcome to the forum! Glad to have you here!

Is any of the previously mentioned suggestions available in that I won't have to flatten them myself? Come pre-flattened I suppose.

Honestly I was hoping to just be able to find what kind of stone --man made or synthetic, to use and be done with it, but the more I look into all these suggestions the more I find people say they never get a flat stone, that they have to do it themselves which to me...means having to purchase additional objects. =[

Is there no one that sells ones already flat and level so they can just be used without worry?

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Originally Posted by Airportcopper

My friend I'm about 20 mins from you.. Any help u need ill help u out and hook u up,with the local guys that meet quite often.. Feel free to contact me

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Every one on here says getting face-to-face help is THE BEST way to learn to hone. I don't have that opportunity where I live. If I were you Smac3223, I'd jump on Airportcopper's offer!

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Is there no one that sells ones already flat and level so they can just be used without worry?

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You flatten the stone to set a datum. That been something constant and universally flat. Without doing it you add into the mix another set if variables. If your stones are flat then everything you do on those stones is a reflection of that flatness. If your stones are dished then you can encounter problems that are unseen. New synthetic hones tend to have a convex surface that must be flattened.

Flattening a stone is actually a simple operation, It's done on wet and dry sandpaper on a hard flat surface, or with a diamond based file.

A hard flat surface can be anything in your house that meets the requirements, From a sheet of old glass, A floor tile, Worksurface, or well finished table.

Universally most honing problems are caused when a stone is not flat if the user has a good grasp of how to hone, the second most common cause of problems been too great a pressure on the blade when you hone as this causes the blade to flex slightly changing the geometry of the razor.

You can buy pre flattened stones, but it's not needed. And as soon as you have used your hones to finish a razor then they can and should be re-flattened. If you watch any of the pro honers video's then always flatten before a razor goes on the rock, Often they do this with a diamond lap, but as I have said wet and dry @ 600-1200 grit is perfectly fine.

This is by large the biggest difference in sharpening a knife and a razor. Knives your edge doesn't have to be perfect even the softest of fruits isn't going to tell you your knife is set at the wrong angle or it's tugging a little. Your face on the other hand will tell you instantly if you have not reached perfection. I honed a razor last night while writing replies for you on here, When I took it to shave the blade needed more work and was tugging a little, So rather than continue to shave with it I put it to a side got out one of my perfect razor and finished the shave. Tonight I will sort that razor out and examine the edge. I suspect the bevel needs a full reset and my touch up of 8K, 12K, Natural wasn't enough to get the full edge ready.

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Originally Posted by Smac3223

Is any of the previously mentioned suggestions available in that I won't have to flatten them myself? Come pre-flattened I suppose.

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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)

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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)

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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.

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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.

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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 :p now you are well on yer way to being as bad as the rest of us :D Welcome Aboard !!!!

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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 :p now you are well on yer way to being as bad as the rest of us :D Welcome Aboard !!!!

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

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.

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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 :p now you are well on yer way to being as bad as the rest of us :D Welcome Aboard !!!!

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On thing I have learnt is that buying something you think may be good enough usually isn't. Rather save up and buy the one recommended by the more knowledgeable folks on the forum. If you buy quality you will not regret it, if you up the wrong hone you won't use it... There are a number of good options that have been recommended and if you change your mind later, a good hone will sell for a good price...

Amen to what Sharptonn says...you don't NEED a hone or stone or anything else....mail those babies off for $30 to Lynn or Gssixgun, or anyone else who is on this forum advertising honing expertise. Best you can buy for $30 (maybe) is a barber's hone and unless you're amazingly dexterous and a quick long distance learner, you'll make the razors worse.

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Originally Posted by sharptonn

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.

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