Thread: Beginner question: what hone to get?

For finishing a razor you want something over 8k in grit. The 2000/ 5000 will do well for setting bevels and sharpening in that order. Then you need a finisher you can go barber, 8k, 10k or 12k or higher in synthetics. Your other options for a finisher are natural hones such as coutical, Escher, black or translucent ark and one of the many others. As to which on its a matter of preference.

Now as the other guys have said knife and razor honing are very different beast so read up one honing. It's not rocket sci but it is a learned skill that takes time.

If you read threads going back when this forum began you will see the Norton 4K/8K was the universal hone for straight maint.

Since then folks have just gone hone crazy. The Norton is still as good as it ever was and you can't go wrong with it.

Originally Posted by Hirlau

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Straight Razor Place - Beginners Tips: November 2014

Category:Honing - Straight Razor Place Library

THNX, forgot to look at those ^^/

I think for now Ill just go with a naniwa 10k stone, that costs money enough, for touchups and maybe in the far future get a norton 4k/8k and try my hand on actual honing.

As for the eden stones, I did some research on them (I looked at the description the seller gave again) And they said that stone has ceramic binding similar to naniwa, but because of a higher concentration of aluminiumoxide, 100% that is for eden stones, the stone sharpens faster but cuts deeper, meaning my 5k side of the eden stone gives a result of the same fineness as a 1k/2k naniwa stone.

I found for touch ups the Naniwa 12k to be better then the 10k. Use chromium oxide and strop. I just purchased a Suehiro Gokumyo 20k and that really puts a great edge on the razor in place of the chromium oxide.

According to their website, their stones are very aggressive. In expensive, aggressive stones are not the best stones for razor honing. Generally they are too small, too soft and too aggressive. And as said, you will end up replacing them with quality stones, or giving up on honing. There is a lot more to a stone for honing razors than just grit size, which is why there are only a handful that are recommended.

Rather than the 10K, the 4/8 Norton may be better for you combined with a 12k Super Stone for a finisher, as recommended. You can buy both for about the cost of the 10K, with the same performance or better and the ability to work a razor up from bevel set to shave ready.