Thread: Hones in New Zealand?

Originally Posted by mosley59

And how old will sir be turning? If you buy youself a coti bout for now and use that with a slurry stone (using Bart's UniCot method, you can set bevels on a coti and refine and edge from there, simply with one stone and some water), I may have a King 4k (i.e one of the ones Carba-Tec sells) I can give you in early March when I get me some new hones (tossing up between a full set of Naniwas or a coti and a Shapton 1K). If I can't afford to buy new hones like I'm hoping to, you'll still have a decent finishing stone you can build on.

I'll be 17
How much will you want for that hone? I'll be at University, so I'll be significantly poorer than I am now and so I'll need to make sure I have the money at the time :P

That idea about using a coti and slurry seems like quite a good idea. If I'm breadknifing a blade I assume I can use the aluminium oxide (I think?) oilstones that you can get from knife stores and maybe The Warehouse.

Unless you're in the habit of buying frowning/nicked old blades off TradeMe, you shouldn't need to breadknife, and unless you have a full rotation of hones it would probably take you forever to get an edge on a razor with just a coti. If you have a razor that'll need to be breadknifed, I'd put it aside for now and just buy a cheapy from the SRP classifieds - get it properly honed and use that. Once you've dulled it enough to need re-honing, you'll probably be in a better position to be able to buy some hones.
If I get rid of it, the hone'd be free - it was a PIF from a member here, so I'm doing the same - it's kinda against the spirit of a PIF to profit from it. Whether or not I get rid of it depends on my finances and if I can find enough work to afford a full set of Naniwas (being a Uni student in Dunedin during a recession sucks when you're looking for a job). Otherwise, you may have to wait a little while (July-ish) to get a hold of it. If I do get the set though, I may also have a 1K (not a 1200) I can also PIF you.

Originally Posted by mosley59

Unless you're in the habit of buying frowning/nicked old blades off TradeMe, you shouldn't need to breadknife, and unless you have a full rotation of hones it would probably take you forever to get an edge on a razor with just a coti. If you have a razor that'll need to be breadknifed, I'd put it aside for now and just buy a cheapy from the SRP classifieds - get it properly honed and use that. Once you've dulled it enough to need re-honing, you'll probably be in a better position to be able to buy some hones.
If I get rid of it, the hone'd be free - it was a PIF from a member here, so I'm doing the same - it's kinda against the spirit of a PIF to profit from it. Whether or not I get rid of it depends on my finances and if I can find enough work to afford a full set of Naniwas (being a Uni student in Dunedin during a recession sucks when you're looking for a job). Otherwise, you may have to wait a little while (July-ish) to get a hold of it. If I do get the set though, I may also have a 1K (not a 1200) I can also PIF you.

I feel your pain. I'm currently in Lower Hutt and I have no real qualifications and Lower Hutt is full of people and has few businesses. I think Hamilton has more jobs available at the moment, so I should be able to pick one up there before I move to Waikato University.

Also, I wasn't considering buying a really coarse hone, but it's good to know they're there. I believe I saw one for $5 a while ago. Also, I think The King of Knives has a 2000 grit stone for $40. I'll have to look into it :P

The powdered abrasives idea sounds pretty good to me for now, as it appears that they aren't extremely expensive, however they may be a bit difficult to find.

I just looked long and hard at my finances, and I think I won't be getting any new hones until July (my birthday) due to needing a lot of stuff, and hones being an optional extra (I can just use my DE until I can afford hones, should my straights become too dull to use). If you're willing to wait a bit, I'm still happy to PIF you the hone(s), but you may have to get the razor honed by a pro during that time while you wait, so yo don't end up buying a hone that will later prove to be extraneous.
Reading back over the thread, I see you're currently sanding a blade down with 80 grit paper - you'll definitely need a coarse hone (200 -1K) to set the bevel after finishing the sanding, as you'll have damaged or destroyed whatever bevel happened to be there, and will have to work from scratch as a result. Search the forum for "grit comparison chart" - there's a .pdf file somewhere that compares various brands so you know what stones are equivalent to each other - very useful if you're looking for a hone but have multiple brands to choose from.

Originally Posted by mosley59

I just looked long and hard at my finances, and I think I won't be getting any new hones until July (my birthday) due to needing a lot of stuff, and hones being an optional extra (I can just use my DE until I can afford hones, should my straights become too dull to use). If you're willing to wait a bit, I'm still happy to PIF you the hone(s), but you may have to get the razor honed by a pro during that time while you wait, so yo don't end up buying a hone that will later prove to be extraneous.
Reading back over the thread, I see you're currently sanding a blade down with 80 grit paper - you'll definitely need a coarse hone (200 -1K) to set the bevel after finishing the sanding, as you'll have damaged or destroyed whatever bevel happened to be there, and will have to work from scratch as a result. Search the forum for "grit comparison chart" - there's a .pdf file somewhere that compares various brands so you know what stones are equivalent to each other - very useful if you're looking for a hone but have multiple brands to choose from.

Awesome. I was reading a thread about setting bevels and it seems that it's possible to set a bevel with a Naniwa (?) 4k stone. Also I can wait until whenever you have new hones :P

I've considered going into Smith & Smith to ask about cerium oxide.

Thanks,

Joundill

I think it might have been a Norton 4K you read about - Naniwas are also JIS grit like the King hone I mentioned a bit earlier, so Naniwa 4K=Norton 8K - very fine, and won't set a bevel very fast at all. Norton 4/8K comobs will set the bevel, but again, it'll take a wee while, hence why most experienced members here set bevels using a 1k or below, then refine that edge by progressing up the grits.

Yeah, I realised that even a Norton 4k would be quite fine. I can quite easily get coarser stones, it's just 4k and up that seem hard to find.

Originally Posted by Joundill

Awesome. I was reading a thread about setting bevels and it seems that it's possible to set a bevel with a Naniwa (?) 4k stone. Also I can wait until whenever you have new hones :P
.....

Setting a bevel requires a sequence of abrasives from coarse
down to about 4K. After about 4K you are in the land of honing
and polishing.

If you are cash scrapped you can build excellent bevel setting blocks more than good
enough for one or two razors by gluing common black abrasive paper to
flat wood or glass (with the sharp edges removed). A cabinet maker
with a joiner or planer can take stable scraps of wood and give them
a very flat surface. If you wish to use some of the contact adhesive
abrasive papers common in a carpentry shop seal the wood with a couple
applications of any thinned varnish or shellac. This is the same
type of trick a carpenter would use to build hones for wood chisels.

If you wear them out on two razors you are overdoing the honing process.

Besides in no time you will want to go back to this same cabinet maker
and conn him into turning you a handle to glue a knot of badger hair
into for a brush. You might have to sweep out the shop a couple dozen
times to pay.... but what the hey.

Originally Posted by niftyshaving

Setting a bevel requires a sequence of abrasives from coarse
down to about 4K. After about 4K you are in the land of honing
and polishing.

If you are cash scrapped you can build excellent bevel setting blocks more than good
enough for one or two razors by gluing common black abrasive paper to
flat wood or glass (with the sharp edges removed). A cabinet maker
with a joiner or planer can take stable scraps of wood and give them
a very flat surface. If you wish to use some of the contact adhesive
abrasive papers common in a carpentry shop seal the wood with a couple
applications of any thinned varnish or shellac. This is the same
type of trick a carpenter would use to build hones for wood chisels.

If you wear them out on two razors you are overdoing the honing process.

Besides in no time you will want to go back to this same cabinet maker
and conn him into turning you a handle to glue a knot of badger hair
into for a brush. You might have to sweep out the shop a couple dozen
times to pay.... but what the hey.

Haha. Yeah, I've got a few flat surfaces (a fair bit of flat wood, and maybe some glass) and I was planning on giving the razor a bevel using 800-2000 grit sandpaper (800, 1000, 1200, 2000) :P

I found some shale (at least I think it's shale) which when polished sparkles (probably small quartz crystals). I'm attempting to grind it into a crude small rectangular prism so I can attempt to hone my pocket knife with it. I have absolutely no idea if it will work, and it doesn't bother me if it doesn't but it's a good time waster for a while.

As I read through the forums, I get the feeling that bevel setting is associated with for the most part a 1K stone and if you need to do some serious repairing of an edge a 220 stone.
I wanted to let you know that a ton of razors actually do very well with re-establishing an existing bevel on either a 3K, 4K or 5K stone vs. going to the 1K every time. Please remember that I always try to go for less whether it be strokes on a hone or razor wear as a result of honing. Lately I have been using my Naniwa Super Stone 5K probably more than any stone out there and have been using it for re-establishing bevels too. That being said, the Naniwa Super 3K, Shapton 4K and Norton 4K will all work. Personal preference and confidence level go a long way here. This method will also work with a Coticule with heavy slurry.

That's from Lynn, so you'd better believe it.

Lynn Abrams On Honing - Straight Razor Place Wiki

Naniwa 4k will apparently work, even if it is the equivalent of a Norton 8k.