Thread: Looking for a touch-up hone

Originally Posted by Ichinichi

The division between touch-up and finishing/polishing stone is blurry to me

Ok let me try it.
touch up stone is person uses almost every shave. you get razor honed and you shave with it for a 4 months then it gets dull what you do before shave you pick up your barber hone and make 2-4 strokes on touch up hone and your blades edge restores you shave fine and so on.
final polishing hone you use only when you have start to hone razor and at the end of honing you use for final polish the edge and you done. you could make 50 laps some does 150 laps etc not important but this is the it is function.

Now lets say you have paid 300 and get nakayama.
your razor after using 4 months is dull and you like to touch up. Can you use Your nakayama and bring that edge back? Of course you can. will take you some laps don't know exact count at least 20 then razor ready.
this is all.
hope i was clear. thank you

so both will refresh the edge. barber's will take 4-5 strokes, nakayama will take much more, say 20 strokes.

how does the barber's hone do this? does barber's hone take fewer strokes because it takes off more steel per stroke?

Originally Posted by hi_bud_gl

Ok let me try it.
touch up stone is person uses almost every shave. you get razor honed and you shave with it for a 4 months then it gets dull what you do before shave you pick up your barber hone and make 2-4 strokes on touch up hone and your blades edge restores you shave fine and so on.
final polishing hone you use only when you have start to hone razor and at the end of honing you use for final polish the edge and you done. you could make 50 laps some does 150 laps etc not important but this is the it is function.

Now lets say you have paid 300 and get nakayama.
your razor after using 4 months is dull and you like to touch up. Can you use Your nakayama and bring that edge back? Of course you can. will take you some laps don't know exact count at least 20 then razor ready.
this is all.
hope i was clear. thank you

Originally Posted by Ichinichi

so both will refresh the edge. barber's will take 4-5 strokes, nakayama will take much more, say 20 strokes.

how does the barber's hone do this? does barber's hone take fewer strokes because it takes off more steel per stroke?

Basically they are fast cutter's . that is why.
there is no natural barber hones(at least this is what i know) . a lot natural finisher's out there.

Originally Posted by hi_bud_gl

Basically they are fast cutter's . that is why.
there is no natural barber hones(at least this is what i know) . a lot natural finisher's out there.

and fast cutter == takes off more steel per stroke?

Originally Posted by Ichinichi

So, is my dining analogy below correct?

Others might disagree, but personally, no; I don't think it's correct at all. In fact, I'd say it's not even close.

A better dining analogy would be to say that a barber hone is specifically designed to do exactly the job you're trying to do, while not one of the other options you've considered is created with that purpose in mind. So the question becomes, if you want a burger, do you go to a burger joint or do you go to a Chinese restaurant and order a burger off the kids menu?

Finishing and touch-up are two COMPLETELY different things. Finishing is the process of polishing out the final honing scratches, while touching up is taking an edge that is no longer shaving correctly and bringing it back into line.

I wouldn't touch up my razor on a finishing hone, and I wouldn't finish a razor on a barber hone.

I won't keep beating a dead horse, so my last comment is this: decide what job you want to do, and get the right tool for it. If you want a finisher, get a finisher. If you want a touch-up, get a barber hone. It's what they are made for.

Whichever way you go, enjoy.

I wish i could go back in time and slap my self silly. Then just buy a barber hone and pasted strop.

Barber hones work really well, barber hone + paste is a really easy way to maintain an edge. IMHO.

Originally Posted by VeeDubb65

Finishing and touch-up are two COMPLETELY different things. Finishing is the process of polishing out the final honing scratches, while touching up is taking an edge that is no longer shaving correctly and bringing it back into line.
...
I won't keep beating a dead horse, so my last comment is this: decide what job you want to do, and get the right tool for it. If you want a finisher, get a finisher. If you want a touch-up, get a barber hone. It's what they are made for.

Whichever way you go, enjoy.

I appreciate the patience, but cannot source the exasperation. You can read the wiki yourself: it says touch up is equivalent to refinishing, I even quoted it for your reference. Is it that difficult to see where my confusion comes from? If you're so categorically certain of this black and white division of applications, then I suggest the wiki be changed to reflect such an obvious truth.

And my main concern isn't addressed by your analogy: the analogy of refinishing is eating a meal, not what kind of meal. the only objective difference between polishing and touching up that has been made in this thread is a matter of how long you have to keep at it, not the kind of edge you get. analogically, its how long you spend eating dinner, as opposed to what you eat.

your analogy implies that if i were to refinish a blade on a polishing stone i'd get a burger-at-a-chinese-restaurant (i.e. insanely inferior and unsatisfying) result. and i'm not sure that's true.

Originally Posted by Slartibartfast

I wish i could go back in time and slap my self silly. Then just buy a barber hone and pasted strop.

Barber hones work really well, barber hone + paste is a really easy way to maintain an edge. IMHO.

so are fast cutting stones "fast" only because they wear down the steel quicker? i.e. they eat more steel per stroke because the cutting particulates are sharper/denser?

Originally Posted by Ichinichi

so are fast cutting stones "fast" only because they wear down the steel quicker? i.e. they eat more steel per stroke because the cutting particulates are sharper/denser?

i think you are confused a little.
Please understand this Fast cutting stone doesn't mean to has to be lower grit stones. All barber hones are synthetic hones and some fast cutting ones(not all of them) this will not mean they are going to move more metals and put deep scratches. it could be fast cutter and no deep scratches at all.

Originally Posted by VeeDubb65

Others might disagree, but personally, no; I don't think it's correct at all. In fact, I'd say it's not even close.

A better dining analogy would be to say that a barber hone is specifically designed to do exactly the job you're trying to do, while not one of the other options you've considered is created with that purpose in mind. So the question becomes, if you want a burger, do you go to a burger joint or do you go to a Chinese restaurant and order a burger off the kids menu?

Finishing and touch-up are two COMPLETELY different things. Finishing is the process of polishing out the final honing scratches, while touching up is taking an edge that is no longer shaving correctly and bringing it back into line.

I wouldn't touch up my razor on a finishing hone, and I wouldn't finish a razor on a barber hone.

I won't keep beating a dead horse, so my last comment is this: decide what job you want to do, and get the right tool for it. If you want a finisher, get a finisher. If you want a touch-up, get a barber hone. It's what they are made for.

Whichever way you go, enjoy.

I posted a similar question here and at B&B yesterday so I'm in the same boat. I agree completely that finishing and touch ups were the same in my mind. I realize that everyone has their own opinion, but please keep in mind we are newb's here asking for help and advice. It was my understanding that for example the Chinese 12K would be a good stone for touch ups and for finishing, just taking a little longer, thus requiring more patience. Wouldn't it depend on a 'comfort' level of the user? I hearposts referencing well known people shaving of the 8K side of the Norton 4/8 and finding that fine. Other posts claim that a barber hone is between 8-12K roughly, each brand being slightly different. Why would you not touch up a razor on a finishing hone, if that's what you like the feel of shaving? If you finish on say a 30K for sake of discussion, why would you touch up on something thats at least have the grit? wouldn't it be less comfortable?

I'm still on the fence on what I want to do. It seems that even between B&B and SRP there's a difference of opinion on what one should use as a touch up or refresh for a blade that's not up to par any more.

Maybe we're just thicker than most but I'm still in the understanding that any of the hones that Ichinichi have mentioned could be used for finishing or touching up. I'm not asking for scientific evidence, I'm asking for feel, what would feel the best?

Hopefully this will help myself and Ichinishi make our decisions even though I think we'll make different choices.