Thread: Honing Start-Up

I am looking at beginning to hone my straight by myself. What are your recommendations for the equipment I will need to get started? My razor is currently good so I have some time before I will need to hone, just thinking ahead and beginning to shop around

Naniwa 12K and 8" DMT 325 otherwise known as course. Learn to touch up a razor first...

Edit: Learn to shave first, then touch up...

There are several "how to" videos, on this site, for the correct procedure of stropping, honing and sharpening. These videos also will give you a listing of the equipment used. There is a world of information on this forum. Good luck with your search!

As scott says a naniwa 12k and a lapping plate. I have an atoma 400 which I quite like but I have nothing to compare it too. The DMT's are popular and cheaper than the atoma plates.

I would recommend you pick up some reasonably priced razors in good condition. (no chips, cracks in blades or scales, no significant honewear) At least two or three to practice honing. Having at least one pro honed razor, to compare your own efforts, is very helpful. Also gives you at least one that is ready to shave until you start getting good enough to supply your own. Honing your one and only razor for practice can be a hit and miss proposition in the beginning.

My question is what are you planning on doing. Full honing or just refreshing. If just refreshing scott has listed perfectly for full honing add a 1k, either 3,4 or5k and 8k stones as well and as Jimmy said don't hone your shaving razor if you plan full honing or you might be getting bad shaves for a while

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

I would recommend you pick up some reasonably priced razors in good condition. (no chips, cracks in blades or scales, no significant honewear) At least two or three to practice honing. Having at least one pro honed razor, to compare your own efforts, is very helpful. Also gives you at least one that is ready to shave until you start getting good enough to supply your own. Honing your one and only razor for practice can be a hit and miss proposition in the beginning.

+1

I learned to hone and shave, strop, lather etc all at once and it was a bitterly painful and long process but I came out relatively unscathed and now I love all of it - I hone every day and shave every other day...

-john

This may be the wrong place to ask, and for that I am sorry, but....

I know when you order/get new stones they need to be lapped to have a truly smooth surface. I also have heard that the lapping stone needs to be "lapped" first with sand paper before it is used on the wet stone itself.

I have heard that the sandpaper can be put down on a piece of plate glass (like a replacement window) or taped to the flat side of a metal sink.

My first question is: Do I have correct information this far?

My second question is: What sandpaper grits are good for the lapping stone? (for this I will specifically say a Norton lapping stone, like the three piece set sold by SRD)

My third questions is: Can I use the same grit paper if I wanted to lap the wet stones with paper rather than a lapping stone? (same Norton 400/1000 and 4000/8000 example)

Sorry if this seems crazy. My (new found) excitement has fueled my OCD and now I want to start learning to hone a couple of old SR that I have so I can use them.

Thanks in advance for help and advise and again, I'm sorry if this is the wrong place to ask these questions.

Originally Posted by tom475

This may be the wrong place to ask, and for that I am sorry, but....

I know when you order/get new stones they need to be lapped to have a truly smooth surface. I also have heard that the lapping stone needs to be "lapped" first with sand paper before it is used on the wet stone itself.

I have heard that the sandpaper can be put down on a piece of plate glass (like a replacement window) or taped to the flat side of a metal sink.

My first question is: Do I have correct information this far?

My second question is: What sandpaper grits are good for the lapping stone? (for this I will specifically say a Norton lapping stone, like the three piece set sold by SRD)

My third questions is: Can I use the same grit paper if I wanted to lap the wet stones with paper rather than a lapping stone? (same Norton 400/1000 and 4000/8000 example)

Sorry if this seems crazy. My (new found) excitement has fueled my OCD and now I want to start learning to hone a couple of old SR that I have so I can use them.

Thanks in advance for help and advise and again, I'm sorry if this is the wrong place to ask these questions.

Not really. If you are flattening a stone with another stone, you must ensure the first stone is flat. Not very many people would bother with the stone. The most common method is with a DMT lapping plate, and they come quite flat in most cases. The next most common method is to lap on wet dry sand paper on a solid and flat surface, kind of how you described flattening the fattening stone.
Second question I am not sure I understand. Wet dry paper lapping is often done with a progression of papers starting coarse and going a little higher. 325 would be great.
You need to at least clean you paper between different grit hones or start with a fresh paper.

Your best solution is to get the DMT lapping plate when you get your first hone. You should also learn to shave first then hone. In the beginning if you have too many variables it is hard to figure out where things went wrong.

Yes, invest in a diamond plate, you will lap the stones every time you use them and sometimes while using. I have been using an IWood 300 plate and like it better than my old DMT for the same price.

W&D does work, but it is a PIA.

A good diamond plate is around 50-60 and will last a lifetime if taken care of. Always lap under running water or in a pond or sink under water. If not you can strip the diamonds from the plate.

Here is some great reading when learning to hone, it may save you a lot of time and money.

Post 2 has links to 4 great threads, just for new guys.

Here.