Thread: Help with hones stone

I bought a Japanese king whetstone 800/6000. It does sharpen the razor somewhat. I've been hearing ppl say the Norton 4k/8k is the way to go. My question is, since I have the 800/6000 jap king whetstone, should I get the Norton 4k/8k? Or should I get something different?

Thanks DAVID

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Here goes I've shaved with a straight answer few times.. but now I caught the bug. I have 3 or 4 dovos, from 5/8 to 6/8. I have several strops, I bought that Japanese king whetstone 800-6000 grit. I was trying to buy the diamond micron spray, but accidentally bought 3 tubes of the yellow.lololo (is the yellow just for conditioning leather?) I have the soaps, pre shave oil, I even bought a knockoff razor to practice honing (Pakistan ) and it came out mediocre. . But was sharper...

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1. Dovo Bismark 6/8
2. Dovo prima silver steel
3. Dovo best quality
4.dovo shavette
5. Boker king cutter

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Originally Posted by r3dm4n13

Here goes I've shaved with a straight answer few times.. but now I caught the bug. I have 3 or 4 dovos, from 5/8 to 6/8. I have several strops, I bought that Japanese king whetstone 800-6000 grit. I was trying to buy the diamond micron spray, but accidentally bought 3 tubes of the yellow.lololo (is the yellow just for conditioning leather?) I have the soaps, pre shave oil, I even bought a knockoff razor to practice honing (Pakistan ) and it came out mediocre. . But was sharper...

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1. Dovo Bismark 6/8<br />
2. Dovo prima silver steel <br />
3. Dovo best quality <br />
4.dovo shavette <br />
5. Boker king cutter<br />
<br />
Sent from my SM-T550 using Tapatalk

Sent from my SM-T550 using Tapatalk

The yellow paste is indeed for strop conditioning and has no abrasives.

The Knockoff razor was a good idea, You are going to need it to learn with.

Pick up some chrome oxide powder or paste. A really cheap way to do this is with a poormans strop kit from whipped dog.

Whipped Dog Straight Razor Shaving Equipment

It comes with a strop that is cheap enough to damage when learning on, and it comes with the balsa paddle for the abrasives. If it survives till you become proficient at stropping then you paste the leather. Otherwise it's mostly disposable.

Send your best razor out to be professionally honed. There are loads of people that do that on here in the services. Also add your location as you may have a friendly straight shaving local who uses the forum and will help you with honing. If you cannot find a local or want to send the razor to a company rather than a person, Straight Razor Designs offer honing services. And the owner is world renown for his abilities. It'll give you that all important benchmark. Then you keep that razor for shaving and try get the knock-off to as near possible. I fear with only a 800/6000 and some pasted strops you will see that you need finer stones (but at least your razors are safe, and you can still shave with the pro honed one)!

If you purchased your razors new from SRD then they should already be pro honed. If you are unsure post the company you purchased them from and we will tell you what the finish will be like. (new dovo's all need honing they come with only a display edge on them unless honed).

Read and re read all the stone reviews, and if you find a local honer meet up and try their rocks. It'll help you make up your mind about stones and how they feel and work.

If you only own 1 strop then none. You need a naked strop without abrasive for daily stropping.

The pasted strop should be a different piece of leather or balsa. You use it to refresh an edge, or to mellow a freshly honed blade. Generally even with light abrasives like chrome oxide you are aiming to do no more that 10 laps. If you are needing significantly more than that then the edge needs a stone refresh.

Chrome Oxide is the standard paste everyone uses it refreshes and leaves a nice edge.

Diamonds and CBN are more abrasive so you need the finest grade possible. If you want to use coarser grades in leu of honing then each grade needs it's own strop. Diamond stropping will never set a bevel but it could replace a 12K stone in a poor mans rotation.

Originally Posted by Iceni

The yellow paste is indeed for strop conditioning and has no abrasives.

The Knockoff razor was a good idea, You are going to need it to learn with.

Pick up some chrome oxide powder or paste. A really cheap way to do this is with a poormans strop kit from whipped dog.

Whipped Dog Straight Razor Shaving Equipment

It comes with a strop that is cheap enough to damage when learning on, and it comes with the balsa paddle for the abrasives. If it survives till you become proficient at stropping then you paste the leather. Otherwise it's mostly disposable.

Send your best razor out to be professionally honed. There are loads of people that do that on here in the services. Also add your location as you may have a friendly straight shaving local who uses the forum and will help you with honing. If you cannot find a local or want to send the razor to a company rather than a person, Straight Razor Designs offer honing services. And the owner is world renown for his abilities. It'll give you that all important benchmark. Then you keep that razor for shaving and try get the knock-off to as near possible. I fear with only a 800/6000 and some pasted strops you will see that you need finer stones (but at least your razors are safe, and you can still shave with the pro honed one)!

If you purchased your razors new from SRD then they should already be pro honed. If you are unsure post the company you purchased them from and we will tell you what the finish will be like. (new dovo's all need honing they come with only a display edge on them unless honed).

Read and re read all the stone reviews, and if you find a local honer meet up and try their rocks. It'll help you make up your mind about stones and how they feel and work.

All my dovo razors came shave ready, and all I have done is strop before shaving. After wards I apply a a little bit of oil to the blade. Yes I will be sending my razors out for honing or sharpening. .. and I'll keep practicing on the cheap Pakistan razor.

Chrome oxide powder or paste, how do I know the grit count? Which side of strop is best for this paste?

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Smooth side for pastes, you always strop on the smooth side.

Good chrome oxide will be a powder or paste without big hard lumps, Grading it can be hard so people tend to buy it from reputable vendors like SRD. 0.5 micron is the general banded about grit rating so somewhere near 15K perhaps higher on the best stuff, and a lot lower on the cheap stuff. It's an abrasive green pigment used in paints ect so it's rarely sold with a grit rating as we are not the main market for it.

Chrome oxide crayons can be hit or miss. The razor branded ones tend to be well graded, but polishing graded sticks are often laced with other abrasives like Alu oxide that speed them up but make them unsuitable for razors.


Shave ready doesn't mean they actually did anything to the edge. There is a trend with sellers to put that phrase on the product and not hone them up. If like you say your 6K edge was sharper, then your blades were not honed to a satisfactory level. Send one out, It'll come back almost as sharp as the shavette you have. You can also try a hanging hair test to see if your blades pass.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF-ayPofWpY

Originally Posted by Iceni

Smooth side for pastes, you always strop on the smooth side.

Good chrome oxide will be a powder or paste without big hard lumps, Grading it can be hard so people tend to buy it from reputable vendors like SRD. 0.5 micron is the general banded about grit rating so somewhere near 15K perhaps higher on the best stuff, and a lot lower on the cheap stuff. It's an abrasive green pigment used in paints ect so it's rarely sold with a grit rating as we are not the main market for it.

Chrome oxide crayons can be hit or miss. The razor branded ones tend to be well graded, but polishing graded sticks are often laced with other abrasives like Alu oxide that speed them up but make them unsuitable for razors.


Shave ready doesn't mean they actually did anything to the edge. There is a trend with sellers to put that phrase on the product and not hone them up. If like you say your 6K edge was sharper, then your blades were not honed to a satisfactory level. Send one out, It'll come back almost as sharp as the shavette you have. You can also try a hanging hair test to see if your blades pass.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF-ayPofWpY

Thank you,

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You can make a foam core board strop for pastes very cheaply.
Go to your local art or craft store and buy a few sheets of thin (3/16") foam core board (dense foam sandwiched between 2 layers of card) : i used A3 size and made 12" by 3" pieces.
Buy a piece of balsa or similar as wide or slightly wider than the core board pieces and about 6" longer.
Mark the 12" length of the core boards on the balsa and shape the remainder into a handle.
Apply the pastes to the core board.
Use elastic bands (one at each end) to hold the core board to the balsa.
It is light weight and easy to change. I would suggest storing the pasted boards in some sort of dedicated envelope to prevent contamination from dirt etc and cross contamination between pastes.