Thread: What is Your Current Honing Set-up?

Originally Posted by gssixgun

I use the GS 1-2-4-6-8-16-30 pretty much only with the razors that can handle a 30k edge nowadays,,, Most American and especially NY made

The Naniwa SS 1-3-5-8-10-12 are mostly reserved for some of the new finicky steels, they are very gentle polishers and you can avoid so many issues using them, especially with slurry... Many Customs, Revisor, some of the TI steel, Wacker these are so easy when you take all the steps, and you avoid the "Sparklies"

Those short intervals sound good to me.
I'm considering transitioning to glass when I start honing again but I would probably just go to 8 or 16 and use film or compound if I wanted to go finer. Wouldn't use a 30 enough to justify the expense, if at all. Not sure how it compares to other edges. I'll have to see how sharp I can get a Torrey someday on film.

Originally Posted by JP5

Those short intervals sound good to me.
I'm considering transitioning to glass when I start honing again but I would probably just go to 8 or 16 and use film or compound if I wanted to go finer. Wouldn't use a 30 enough to justify the expense, if at all. Not sure how it compares to other edges. I'll have to see how sharp I can get a Torrey someday on film.

Personally I have been recommending the 1-3-8-12 Naniwa SS it is pretty hard to beat at any price..

The Shapton Kuromaku set is also a solid set especially if you have a Natural to follow it with and the price on amazon is awesome

Originally Posted by gssixgun

The Shapton Kuromaku set is also a solid set especially if you have a Natural to follow it with and the price on amazon is awesome

Also you can get away with a pasted strop if you don't have a natural. Can't get much sharper than a 12k Kuromaku edge but it does need some taming.
Ironically it's one of their stones they don't recommend for razors but I think it was Iwasaki san or Mizouchi san said you could use the 12k if you didn't have a Jnat.

Norton 1K, 4K, 8K, Chinese with/without Belgian slur, Suehiro Gokumyo 20K

Usually 1 - 3 - 8 - 12k Naniwa SS or 1k Naniwa SS - Coticle

Lat weeekend I had a Skype one on one with a member in Florida on Arks, now Washita - med Ark - Trans Ark is in the mix too.

Shapton Kuromaku 1k or 1.5k (I prefer the 1.5k) to set a bevel followed by Norton 4k/8k, then BBW/Coticule and finish with a Vermio or Pierre La Lune or Oozuku, depending on my mood. Sometimes I end with chromium oxide on balsa.

I’m not very scientific about it, but the Sheffield steels seem to really like the coticules.

Bevel set with 1k Chosera
Butterscotch Washita
Light blue Thurigan. ( slurry- water )
Blue/green Thurigan. (Slurry-water )

Seems to work wonders with any steel.

But as I've said before....honing doesn't end on the stone, it stops on the strop. To me its the most important, to a set bevel. The strop can make or brake an edge.

By current do you mean today? It may be different tomorrow. I guess it is important to disclaim that I am not a professional and consequently I have the luxury (or ignorance, however you want to look at it) to hone on any old rock I stub my toe on. Hell, on a lark I even decided to see if one actually could hone on a brick; true story.
To me honing is cathartic and sort of meditative but I am also not trying to make a deadline or concerned about time efficiency. Sort of like primitive camping there is value in being able to do it for the eventuality that you may need those skills one day but it is certainly not the smoothest way. That is why I like to play around with natural progressions and picking rocks out of planters and seeing if they make a good finisher.

However, when time is a factor I will use some combination of 600DMT (for bevel correction and to shorten the time on 1k for really dull edges) Norton 1k, 4k, 8k or King 1k, 6k, Sharptton 12k then thuri or black/trans Ark finish most of the time.

Originally Posted by DZEC

I’m not very scientific about it, but the Sheffield steels seem to really like the coticules.

Totally agree, that combo makes for a very comfortable shave...

So, my approach is probably totally different than anybody else's. However, it works on my face and produces what I call an exceptional edge and a very good edge. Here's how I define each:

Exceptional
The razor will get this rating when on the first pass (with the grain), it shaves all the hair from your face without leaving a lot of stubble. It must be smooth with hardly any pressure. On the second pass (against the grain), it must get every bit of stubble left on your face and delivers a baby butt smooth surface on your entire face. This is the shave that you are looking for on every razor. However, not every razor is capable of this rating. This is the best of the best!

Very Good
The razor will get this rating when on the first pass (with the grain), it shaves most the hair from your face but may leave a little stubble. It must be smooth with hardly any pressure. On the second pass (against the grain), it will generally get most of stubble left on your face and delivers a baby butt smooth surface on your entire face, but may just not as smooth or close as an exceptional shave. There will be a lot of Razors that fit into this category and they are good razors. Not every razor can be exceptional! This is a totally acceptable razor and shave! You may just need to touch up the razor some on your finishing stones, followed by stropping on canvas and leather to bring it to an exceptional rating.

My process:

Set the bevel
Here I use 1000grit wet / dry sandpaper on plate glass. Then move to 2000grit until edge is very crisp.

Honing
1. Start with marble plate using CrOx and a mixture of mineral oil and honing oil on the first go around. One layer of tape on the spine.
2. Utilize a marble plate with 1.0 diamond paste and a mixture of mineral oil and honing oil. One layer of tape on the spine.
3. Utilize a marble plate with 0.5 diamond paste and a mixture of mineral oil and honing oil. One layer of tape on the spine.
4. Utilize a marble plate with 0.25 diamond paste and a mixture of mineral oil and honing oil. One layer of tape on the spine.
This process for me produces a very keen edge.

Polishing
1. Use a Hall's Pro edge Surgical Black stone and a mixture of mineral oil and honing oil. One layer of tape on the spine. 1st stage of the polishing process for me.

2. Move to a 10K Norton water stone and a mixture of mineral oil and honing oil. One layer of tape on the spine. Green stone in picture.

3. Move to a piece of slate that I pulled out of the Potomac River and a mixture of mineral oil and honing oil. One layer of tape on the spine. The Blue Gray stone Left side of picture above.
4. Finish the polishing process with a marble plate coated with 3M .03 micron film. This produces the exceptional edge that I look for.


And finally, it's off to the stropping process. Here I use A Lucky Strike horse hide strop with linen. On one side of the linen, I have CrOx and the other side is clean. This produces a butter smooth edge that delivers a BBS 2 pass shave .

That's my process! Work's for me and that's all I care about!