Thread: Thinking about a honing stone set for straights! Looking for suggestions!

Originally Posted by Bowneuscg

I just bought my first stone (the norton 4/8k), and you really can get shave capable edges off of it in about a solid days practice(its not going to be as good as it could be, but its not going to be a bad experience), followed by some paste its pretty decent, the members here helped me get set up about 2 weeks ago and ive been going strong since! Also ive read alot about the coticules as they can do a little more work than simply polishing/maintaining. Just ordered one (they look nice) might be worth a peek or if an experienced member chimed in.

And on the gold dollars, take it from me i didnt read a lot about them just saw reputable people selling shave ready ones and i figured hey looks like good practice. Its fairly rough i had to break out a dremel for the shoulder, and the spine is all sorts of curvy, so youll need a lower grit stone or some wet sand. those guys put some decent work into them to get them shaving

just .02 from someone who was in your shoes a few weeks ago

-Bowne out

Thanks for the comments and I will probably just start with a 4k/8k stone too if I decide to stay with straights after all. Regarding the GD, if the two I have are too bent or twisted, then I will use them anyway just to practice with. I do have a Norton economical stone here that was from the Home Depot which is fairly coarse to use if need be!

Thx.

Yea, the Gold Dollar and their cousins are really more of a Straight Razor Kit. They can be made to shave, but…

You really have to learn to fix it, just so you can hone it. And in the end, I don’t know that, you will learn that much about honing, because a lot of what you have to do does not really translate to vintage razor honing.

You really are making the learning process much more difficult, than it needs to be and as said does require more tools than a “minimum” collection of hones can handle.

Maybe if you bought one, that somebody already made shave ready then just maintained, but hey… why not just use a good vintage razor?

Coticules are whole different animal and is a whole different kind of honing. It is much easier to learn to hone first then, experiment with naturals. They are capable of very nice edges, but a LOT depends on the hone, the slurry and the HONER.

The fact that you ALWAYS see Coticules for sale and you never see a 12k Super Stone or a SG 20 for sale, says something about Coticules… just saying… Not bashing, I own several.

Set yourself up for success, learn to hone on a proven synthetic progression… then begin collecting…. Stones.

Originally Posted by Euclid440

You really have to learn to fix it, just so you can hone it. And in the end, I don’t know that, you will learn that much about honing, because a lot of what you have to do does not really translate to vintage razor honing.

Not that I am an advocate of Gold Dollars - not in the least - but let's say you have a Gold Dollar that can be honed without problems. How does what you learn from honing such a Gold Dollar not translate to honing vintage razors?

Originally Posted by Euclid440

The fact that you ALWAYS see Coticules for sale and you never see a 12k Super Stone or a SG 20 for sale, says something about Coticules… just saying… Not bashing, I own several.

...and that is that once you learn to use one coticule you don't need another one? At least those were my reasons for selling the ones I've sold. And I've seen plenty of synthetic hones for sale. As well as many Wade & Butchers and Filarmónicas. What does that say about Wade & Butchers and Filarmónicas?

And maybe stuff being sold says something about the people selling them as well. Maybe. Not bashing anyone, just saying.

Repairing a Gold Dollar is repairing a Gold Dollar, it’s not honing, it’s repairing.

If you want to learn to drive, but first you have to rebuild the engine, get a car you can drive, because engine rebuilding has nothing to do with driving.

Most race car drivers can’t rebuild engines.

New guys buy Gold Dollars to hone, because they are cheap, but you can’t just hone them.

As I said, honing a Gold Dollar that has already been fixed is different, but then for the same money you could buy a nice vintage razor… and then you would have a nice vintage razor… that you can shave with.

Synthetics, yes. A used 12k Super Stone or SG20k… NO, never seen it.

I do have a GD in stainless that was already repaired (if it needed to be which I dont know) and honed so that one will just need to be touched up every so often.

Until you decide which direction to go with synthetic or natural stones. Go to youtube and watch some lapping film videos. For a minimum investment (sheets of lapping and a 12"X12" granite floor tile from Home Depot), you can begin your straight razor honing career.

If you do decide to stay with straights dmt 325 grit is worth its weight in gold. i also use it for major bevel setting and repair. its works great for making slurries too. the break in period is tricky, i had several diamonds that stuck up too high and left swirls or scratches in the water stone. you can rub the side of a screw driver in it or lap an old carborundum stone to even the dmt out. they cut fast and smooth. i enjoy it a lot more than the sandpaper trick. it will last you a life time. i absolutely abuse mine then clean it with some dish soap a it still cuts like the day i got it. heres where i got mine

http://www.amazon.com/DMT-D8C-Dia-Sh...ywords=dmg+d8c

Originally Posted by StoneSeeker

If you do decide to stay with straights dmt 325 grit is worth its weight in gold. i also use it for major bevel setting and repair. its works great for making slurries too. the break in period is tricky, i had several diamonds that stuck up too high and left swirls or scratches in the water stone. you can rub the side of a screw driver in it or lap an old carborundum stone to even the dmt out. they cut fast and smooth. i enjoy it a lot more than the sandpaper trick. it will last you a life time. i absolutely abuse mine then clean it with some dish soap a it still cuts like the day i got it. heres where i got mine

http://www.amazon.com/DMT-D8C-Dia-Sh...ywords=dmg+d8c

Thanks I will keep that in mind about the DMT 325.

Looking at this picture, how can you tell the Soft Arkansas from the Hard Arkansas stone? Nothing it marked on package or box or stone for that matter! I received this set on a trade but cant tell which is which!

Also, can anyone tell me the approximate grit of these and a black surgical Arkansas one?

Thx.

I have a set like that for knives, and all i know is they are VERY slow and smooth(wont polish, but smooth), from 440ss-1095 high carbon-Cpms30v it doesnt seem to matter its still a process, now for razor honing who knows, might be something?