Thread: Best stone for newbie

Hello all. I have purchased my first 2 razors from the forum here and they will arrive shave ready.
What is the best stone for me to buy to keep them sharp, and also the best strop for a newbie.
Thanks again for the help!

I think everyone should start with synthetic stones personally. Of course that’s a complete 180 from when I started and thought a coti could do it all. Mastering the synthetic allows for more accurate play later with other more exotic stones.

If your blades are already honed - maybe a 4/8K combo to maintain would be good. Then by up and down from there.

To be honest, I’ve become a huge fan of pasted strops to keep a blade going. That’s where I’d go... I use a 1 micron diamond paste, and a .5 micron. Works wonders for me.

Good luck! Enjoy.

I’d have to say no stones for a while. You shouldn’t need them for shave ready razors for many months if you have no stropping or faucet tapping mishaps. I have razors I haven’t refreshed on a hone for 100s of shaves.

As for strop, any quality 2 1/2 or 3 inch strop will do. You’ll probably nick your first one a few times, so you can wait a while before buying your dream strop.

I bought my first razor in Dec. And use it just about daily, and just recently figured that out needs to be honed. I am now looking for my first stones, but not just for keeping up my blades, but to make my shave a little more enjoyable. Using a strop correctly is key though.

I would say a naniwa 12k superstone is hard to beat. I am an average honer and when things work for me a 12k naniwa edge is really Keen and smooth. Gives me great shaves.

The 12k is a great stone for touch-ups. But you shouldn't need to touch-up for months. I'd say to stay away from stone for the first year. Pay to have them honed right as it is very important in the first year for your edge to be right, plus it doesn't cost much. But, if you're going to buy a stone, a 12k will be a good one to have. If your blade is starting to pull, then it will only take 4 or 5 laps on the 12k to be right back where it was. But, that is only if you do the laps perfectly! And in the beginning that a pretty slim chance.

We have some guys here that don't hone or own stones at all and have been using a straight for many years. You don't need one if your abilities are good when shaving. Two razors will last many many months if not a year if your shaving correctly.