Thread: Poor newbie's hone set

Originally Posted by Jlander

^^^^^
Absolutely agree.

I spent the first 10 yrs using a straight with only my grandfathers white and black Arkansas'. It was more time consuming but quite effective. I learned alot about those stones and that razor. It is just not what I would recommend today for someone just starting out and no-one to provide some hands-on teaching. There are so many options I did not have available then. Small town in rural West Texas didn't a big supply of stones in the 60's. But you play the hand your delt.

Amen. You don't need 20 some odd hones to get the jobs done. Or even a set of the most expensive hones on the market. A lot of folks that have those expensive synthetics end up finishing on a Natural stone that has a more comfortable shaving edge anyway.

The only reason I have so many rocks is I enjoy the act of honing. And few things test how good a job you did making something sharp like using it to scrape the hair from your face.

If cost is a factor (or even if not) look into lapping film. You can have a full quality set of hones that will create a fantastic edge for about $50. Not $50 per hone, $50 all in. Search for a thread called "Lapping Film, try it"

The edges off of film are not a low cost compromise. They are fantastic, and easier to attain.

Yes! I will definitely try that out. That's the kind of stuff I was looking for, thanks!

Originally Posted by Barbu

Thanks Marshall, you saved me a headache playing with novaculite. I've decided to just try my Steelex 1/6 with very light touch and maybe reducing the soak time and finishing on the Naniwa 12k that's in the mail. After all the Steelex/Woodstock is more expensive than a King, I know it doesn't mean much but makes me wonder how good it is. I can't put it aside without triyng it at least once, I don't know if anyone has ever tried it on a razor. Somebody has to bite the bullet, right?

Bit of a late thought but...I'm not sure what about that thread scared you away from Novaculite, but I wouldn't write it off just yet. As far as natural stones go, in my opinion they're the most consistent and simplest to learn to use.

If it was flattening them, I'd say get them from Dan's. The large green one in that thread got absolutely no attention with respect to flatness because it came dead flat from Dan's. The large grey stone wore me out because it's a vintage stone from an unknown supplier that was quite possibly made convex on purpose. If it was polishing/burnishing...well I tend to take that the extra mile because that's how I like my stones to operate. I do that to just about everything from Arkansas to Welsh Slate. It's not at all a necessary step no matter where you get your rocks from, and many prefer to just let them wear in naturally through use. You can probably take a Dan's finishing Arkansas stone, hone a chisel on it to take some tooth off, then call it good enough to hone a razor.

The novaculite stone would be my first choice for a beginner, but only the dans. Using one goes against most advice on how to use other hones (the fine work can be done with some moderate pressure until the very last, and it really doesn't matter what the stroke is as long as the razor stays flat on the stone and doesn't get scuffed down over a corner), but they are very forgiving to use and require very little maintenance.

Oil to use on them can be as easy as generic baby oil at target, etc. Their scratch pattern (Depth) is far more favorable to razor edges than modern abrasives until you get into tiny modern abrasive sizes.

A single combination dan's stone for $50-$80 and a cheap diamond card could set up every razor you'll ever get in short order and not wear out.

I still use my grandfathers white & black stones to set the bevel and do most of the polishing, finishing on a Belgium or Thuringian (because I have them not because I need them). Then strop. I have found it interesting to finish on different stones (the edges "feel" different on my face), but have never come across a razor that the two Arkansas stones are not capable of putting a very nice edge on IF I do my part.

One option that nobody shared with you is the CNAT. The problem is that there is more variability on those than, say, a True Hard Arkansas from Dan's.

So you need to choose if you optimize for cost or simplicity.
The simple option is the synthetic 12k stone or a good condition barber hone. If you want to optimize for cost, the lapping film or CNAT goes in that direction.

In my case, I've been optimizing for cost, and I can honestly say that I don't have enough time, so that is something that drags me down.
Now if you have plenty of time, you may even end up enjoying the process of lapping and burnishing a natural stone.

As for the strop, I heard good things about the Ruitertassen strop on Fendrihan. I have a bench strop from ClassicEdge you can try too.

Originally Posted by DaveW

The novaculite stone would be my first choice for a beginner, but only the dans. Using one goes against most advice on how to use other hones (the fine work can be done with some moderate pressure until the very last, and it really doesn't matter what the stroke is as long as the razor stays flat on the stone and doesn't get scuffed down over a corner), but they are very forgiving to use and require very little maintenance.

Oil to use on them can be as easy as generic baby oil at target, etc. Their scratch pattern (Depth) is far more favorable to razor edges than modern abrasives until you get into tiny modern abrasive sizes.

A single combination dan's stone for $50-$80 and a cheap diamond card could set up every razor you'll ever get in short order and not wear out.

What are these diamond cards?
Cheers

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Also, as I mentioned in PM, it is a good idea to discuss your questions with other SR members. And there is a meetup in Montreal this weekend

They're small diamond hones. DMT sells them as Dia-Sharp® Credit Card Sharpener

Originally Posted by Clayglen

What are these diamond cards?
Cheers

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