Thread: Question from a new guy about hones and which to buy ?

You may get Packi razors to to shave but they may not hold an edge. It is the quality of the steel.

With a 4/8k and 12K super stone you can maintain a honed razor very easily. The bevels are already flat and the angle with the spine is already set so all you have to do is straighten the edge and remove any micro chips.

Is the 12k a super stone or a Natural stone. If it is a natural it is probably not 12K and you may be going backwards in grit from a Norton 8k.

now that you say that thinking back it is coarser than the norton 8k. See another opinion on the matter and the light bulb turns on. The Packi razor was just one to play with to see if i could get it sharp i dont plan on shaving with it in the future. I do plan on buying another razor when i get back home maybe a dovo or boker. My friend has a Harts steel but for the money i dont know.

Any of the 3 are good choices and will provide the same quality of shave if honed properly.

If you have a natural Guangix Chinese Stone, commonly sold as 12K, but are not really, they are hard stones and can be finished (burnished) to provide a finer finish than the grit of the stone, similar to a hard Ark finish. With any natural stone, each is different and here YMMV to a great extent.

Search finishing Ark stones in the search field. There is much written about them.

But really, you can get a great edge from the Norton 8K and leather.

SGwalker,

Not to hijack this thread but, yes you can strop on paste to maintain a razor, the problem most have is, you first have to learn how to strop.

One mis-stroke and you can cause more damage to the edge than you are repairing.
Much is written on pasting strops in the library and strop forum.

Please ask your questions re this in a new thread.