Thread: which stones to buy?

Originally Posted by hi_bud_gl

if you wont set the bevel you wont get the final edge right.
if you will not finish the edge then your blade will shave crappy. End result is same.

Actually, end result is different. Glen's got an excellent point here. I have shaved with razors that were finished on all sorts of hones, pastes, and sprays. At the end of the day, it is all in the skills of the guy using the hones.

I do totally not subscribe to, or believe in, the finishing hone hype. Finishing an edge is relatively easy. Setting a bevel is what can be really difficult. And when it comes to finishes, a lot of it is personal preference. Some people swear by .25 diamond spray, I hate it. Others love Eschers, but I have been able to compare finishes with an Escher (and old and good one) and a Coticule (mine, also allegedly one of the better ones) on the same razors, and I always liked the Coticule edges better. Does that make the Coticule the better hone? Negative, just the guy who used it knows more about Coticules than Eschers (and also more than most people I know).

Whatever.
Robin

What i mean by end result is this.
if you wont set bevel right your end result will be bad honed blade right.
Now
if you don't know how to put the final edge to the blade result will be bad honed blade right?
this is what i mean
end result is same.= bad honed blade.

Originally Posted by BeBerlin

Actually, end result is different. Glen's got an excellent point here. I have shaved with razors that were finished on all sorts of hones, pastes, and sprays. At the end of the day, it is all in the skills of the guy using the hones.

I do totally not subscribe to, or believe in, the finishing hone hype. Finishing an edge is relatively easy. Setting a bevel is what can be really difficult. And when it comes to finishes, a lot of it is personal preference. Some people swear by .25 diamond spray, I hate it. Others love Eschers, but I have been able to compare finishes with an Escher (and old and good one) and a Coticule (mine, also allegedly one of the better ones) on the same razors, and I always liked the Coticule edges better. Does that make the Coticule the better hone? Negative, just the guy who used it knows more about Coticules than Eschers (and also more than most people I know).

Whatever.
Robin

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Being way more of a Restorer than a Honemeister I would beg to differ

I never do more than 20 laps on my finishers no mater the type...

I might grow almost intimate with my bevel setter as I correct years of bad honing, multiple bevels, or damage on a blade...
The finisher has no use, if the bevel wasn't set right first

I actually did a thread on this at one time about how every single person always says the establishing the bevel is the most important part of honing a razor, but we all only brag about how great our finishers are, and then argue between each other which is best... it is all about the bevel baby hehehe

I did not mean it this way but it came out wrong I guess. Bevel setter is important because if the bevel is not set right then all other stones are useless, no question about that.

Honestly it was just a minor point, no offense meant any direction...

But it does seem to me we spend the most time "Discussing" that final 20-30 laps on the entire process, whether they be on stones, pastes, naturals, synthetics, or newspaper, for that matter, when in all actuality those last 20-30 laps regardless, what they are on, are really the most personal part of honing...

We seem to agree on the whole process right up until the razor starts to shave (about 8k) then, bam!! we all start to argue about what is best following that, for those last 20-30 laps.. I think that depends on each person's face, combined with the razor in hand, and that is why none of us can agree on the ending...

So therefore to finish my thought that does make the bevel setter the most important stone ...

(really guys just having some fun here)