Thread: Hone or strop?

+1 with tcrideshd. This "Seller" that you talked to seems, based on the info you have given, does not know anything about honing razors. Yes, If you start getting into honing, every once in a while you may see here on SRP that we talk about the 1k shave but that is not shave anyone wants to do rather than test to see how well that person's bevel setting skills are. So for you at this point only focus sending the razors out and make sure they are shave ready and work on the other aspects of the shave, before throwing in the inexperienced honer variable.

Another concern that I have is that since it seemed like the vendor/seller your were dealing with did not know anything about razor honing, I would worry about the quality of the razors too. What are the brands of these two razors? Pictures are also a plus if you can post those too. But I'm afraid of that these razors you got may be on the "not worth the effort" list (my words) we have in the wiki library.

Please post pictures of your razors or at least tell us what brand they are.

You will need a bit more than a 1k to begin honing. It is also not reccomended until you can shave and strop properly.

Let's take it from the top:
First, congratulations on taking the step of buying two straight razors. Now, please tell us what they are make and size-wise, where you got them and if possible, post pictures.

Second, as had been said, assuming you have decent razors, once they are well-honed to "shave-ready" AND you learn to strop well, without damaging the edge, most new shavers can go 3 months or o before they need to be honed again. Some who are careful and good at stropping and shaving can go longer (6-9 months). It depends on your beard, your technique and your razor among other things.

Third the guy who told you 1500/400 is wrong. For routine maintenance, the lowest grit you would need is 4000 and a decent shaving edge can be maintained with a 4000 and 8000. Most commonly people go then to 12000 as a finishing stone. A 1000 stone would only be needed if you were going to go back to the bevel setting stage. As was also said, you can get your razors honed for a few years by one of the knowledgeable folks on this forum for $20-25, so you could maintain 2 razors for a few years (with care) by buying no hones and mailing the razors off when they need honing. Since you're in Europe, it may be possible to find someone nearby who is a knowledgeable member.

Fourth, when you do buy hones the most common size is 3" x 8". Smaller than that requires more skill and takes more time to learn and to hone.

Hope that answers your questions. If you post pictures and descriptions, we'll be able to help you better.

You will find your shave count between touch-ups will increase as your shaving and stropping technique improves. But like the other guys have said, you really want to start with a shave ready razor from someone who knows what they are doing.

Originally Posted by Grazor

You will find your shave count between touch-ups will increase as your shaving and stropping technique improves. But like the other guys have said, you really want to start with a shave ready razor from someone who knows what they are doing.

Concise but 100% accurate - nice.