Thread: Starting Out-Guidance Please

I apologize for not understanding what you were asking in the first place with your question. After re-reading it I see that you were asking about knives and not so much razors. Like I said in my first reply I had already been sharpening my own knives before I ever picked up a straight razor to shave with. I can tell you that my go to stones for knives are the Smith's Tri-hone oil stones, the DMT course, fine, and extra fine (also using the DMT aligner guide when I use their diamond stones) water stones, and I always use my Spyderco cermaic stones as the last step in my process. If the blade is in pretty good shape and just needs to be touched up that is when I use the Tri-Hone oil stones, sticking with the medium and fine grit, if the blade needs more attention I will use the DMT water stones and the aligner guide is a big help in getting the right angle. Then as previously stated my last step is the cermaic stones I have from Spyderco. There very well maybe someone else out there or on another forum geared more towards knives that has a much better process but being a creature of habit I have used the same process for a while now and it does give me the results I am looking for. During deer season I have plenty of friends dropping off their skinning knives to be touched up after they have recently used them and have had no complaints.

Originally Posted by KingChoss

So in researching razors i have become interested in honing my own once I get them, but before i get there I'd like to practice.

Originally Posted by Avant

I apologize for not understanding what you were asking in the first place with your question. After re-reading it I see that you were asking about knives and not so much razors.

I don't think any apology was needed, but now we all know what the OP wants.

First, practicing the honing of knives will not help you at all for honing razors. They are honed entirely differently. A common quote from experienced knife honers when they begin razor honing is "sharp is sharp," but they quickly learn it ain't true.

For most knives, a 1k hone is a sufficient finisher. If you want hones that can serve double duty for both razors and knives, you could start with a 600 and a 1k hone. The particular brand I most highly can recommend from personal experience is the Naniwa Chosera. I have the 400, 600, 800, and 1k. If you were only honing knives, I would say the 400 would be a better lower end but it would rarely be used for razors. The 600 is an excellent repair hone for most razors but can be too harsh for some.

@Avant - No need to apologize. I have looked at the spyderco's and they do look nice. So I take it you like the alot then. Thanks for your progression.

@eKretz - Howdy! I have some family up nearer to you than me, but they are the other side of the state line.

@Utopian - So you would say Naniwa Chosera's over a King regardless of the grit?

I hope i haven't came off rude or anything. Just looking for some information on good stones. I'm not the best when i comes to getting my idea across. Sorry!

Originally Posted by KingChoss

@Utopian - So you would say Naniwa Chosera's over a King regardless of the grit?

I hope i haven't came off rude or anything. Just looking for some information on good stones. I'm not the best when i comes to getting my idea across. Sorry!

I have only honed on a King 1k for about 15 seconds just to get a basic feel for it. For that reason, I cannot provide personal experience about it. However, I have read others' positive comments about it so I would assume it to be perfectly useable.

I guess the main take home point would be to start with just a 1k hone. This will allow you to get a feel for knife honing to see how it goes for you. If you feel you can do it, then go ahead and invest in a lower grit hone for knives.

I don't think you came across as rude. We just tend to lean in the direction of razors!

Yep.....I am a very big fan of the Spyderco stones. Worth your while to check those out.

I know you are talking about the spyderco ceramics benchers Avant, but have you used the pocket spydercos? i was actually looking at those not too long ago but was torn between those and the Fallkniven ones, great things said about both.

I do have a pocket Spyderco I keep in my tackle box and have been very pleased with it. You are correct though, I normally use the ceramic bench stones, I only have the one pocket stone.

Thanks all. I really appreciate your input!

Originally Posted by Utopian

First, practicing the honing of knives will not help you at all for honing razors. They are honed entirely differently. A common quote from experienced knife honers when they begin razor honing is "sharp is sharp," but they quickly learn it ain't true.

i have found this to be a very true statement, through trial and error, i class myself as extreme novice to honing a razor but im pretty comfortable with knives, first razor i honed from start still shaves like a dream, the two after that i have issues with but im learning.
as a result i have taken a much greater interest in rocks and hones than i ever did when my only sharp shineys were knives

The most i ever took to a knife was 6k and that was a knife that holds special place for me, I have seen sales demos on youtube aimed at chefs for stuff like a naniwa super stone 12k, and saw comments from chefs that 6k is to polished for a kitchen knife and that the edge starts to loose it "bite" above 6k. This opinion may eve vary between chefs, one may be chopping carrots and potatoes with steel, the other maybe a sushi chef with a love of ceramic blades ect.....

i would agree with Utopian that something around 400 600 would be very useful in the kitchen, i would maybe even go down to about 240 depending on the condition of your knives edges. If you did want to go to a finer finish than that perhaps something like a naniwa 1k/3k or a norton 1k/4k would be a good way to go and would give you the chance to find out if the finer edge really does agree with kitchen knives and give you the ability to compare it to a 1k finish.