Thread: Looking to buy

Im looking to start working with natural combo coticule. Any suggestions for my first and where to purchase?

I just got one from thesuperiorshave.com
Service was super fast and excellent all around. The proprietor is a member here. At the very least read his blurb on hones on his site - good info.

-D

I'm considering getting into honing. I haven't used a hone before and haven't had my razor honed since I got it over a year ago, and so far stropping has kept it in fine shape. If I send it off for honing once per year or every two years, it'll add up in the really long term but it'll take a while to learn, and the investment for a full set of decent hones is $150+, so it'll take almost ten years of once-a-year honing to make financial sense.

What am I missing? Does it make sense to hone more often? Maybe I've just gotten used to a dull blade? Thoughts?

Robert, If the math works out for you and/or you just don't want to mess with stones, then don't worry about it. If you're happy with the shaves you're getting then it's hard to argue you've got a dull edge and need to hone more often... What are you missing? Well, I'm still fairly new but can say that (for me) honing is fun and rounds out the whole Straight Razor Experience quite nicely. I like experimenting with different stones. I've also enjoyed being able to restore a dull/damaged blade on an antique store find (or one I accidentally chipped, ugh). There's quite a bit of satisfaction getting a great shave off a blade you honed from ground up. Not to mention the whole self-sufficiency thing... but that's just me.

-D

Originally Posted by robertliford

What am I missing? Does it make sense to hone more often? Maybe I've just gotten used to a dull blade? Thoughts?

Only speaking for myself, this is not just a way to shave my whiskers for me. It is my hobby and as Lynn calls it, a sport. Collecting razors and honing them is to me what bass fishing or golf is to friends of mine. If it was only about shaving with one or two razors I would probably have the same point of view as you do. If the razor is shaving comfortably and closely I doubt if it is dull. At least it is sharp enough to meet your satisfaction.

For me it's fun working on the razors I find at shops and Ebite. Bringing back to life razors that may never get to be used again. I like shaving with vintage pieces (and being broke keeps me from buying the good stuff ) so I get whats left over and make them usable again.

It's part of the experience as well as thumbing my nose at the disposable society surrounding us Learning to hone my own blades just makes me feel good. For me it's cost effective, some others maybe not so much. That choice is up to each person to me.

Originally Posted by robertliford

I'm considering getting into honing. I haven't used a hone before and haven't had my razor honed since I got it over a year ago, and so far stropping has kept it in fine shape. If I send it off for honing once per year or every two years, it'll add up in the really long term but it'll take a while to learn, and the investment for a full set of decent hones is $150+, so it'll take almost ten years of once-a-year honing to make financial sense.

What am I missing? Does it make sense to hone more often? Maybe I've just gotten used to a dull blade? Thoughts?

This has little to do with the original post: "Looking to buy"
"Im looking to start working with natural combo coticule."

However you are correct the dollars add up
and it pays to keep track...

My recommendation...

Send your existing blade out for a professional honing.
The prices for honing I see are a bargain when you consider that they
may touch $500+ worth of hones and strops in some shops.

Also, there are some inexpensive but fine razors in the classified.
You want have two. razors. With two you can send one
out for honing every six months in rotation. One spare razor
and a couple professional honing trips.... It will take a couple
of years at the rate you dull your razor to cover the cost of a
decent finish hone kit. And learning to hone razors well is not
a free ride.

So do tell, what razor do you have that kept an edge for
a year..... If you can fine another just like it that would
be a good thing.

EDIT:
After a year a correctly honed razor might seem "way too sharp"
so use caution. For kitchen knives, if I let them get dull the week
after I sharpen them is when someone in the house cuts themselves.
I now sharpen more often....

Originally Posted by niftyshaving

This has little to do with the original post: "Looking to buy"
"Im looking to start working with natural combo coticule."
[...]
So do tell, what razor do you have that kept an edge for
a year..... If you can fine another just like it that would
be a good thing.

Sorry about the not-so-relevant post; I just didn't want to start a new post if something close already existed.

The razor I use is just a basic Dovo Best Quality (carbon, not stainless) that Lynn honed. It's a beauty, and I usually only shave once every three days or so because I get pretty close and only have a 5 o'clock shadow after 36 hours.

I just picked up a couple NOS Wapis, so I'm especially interested in figuring out the best relatively cheap way to hone.

Thanks for the advice!

Originally Posted by robertliford

Sorry about the not-so-relevant post; I just didn't want to start a new post if something close already existed.

The razor I use is just a basic Dovo Best Quality (carbon, not stainless) that Lynn honed. It's a beauty, and I usually only shave once every three days or so because I get pretty close and only have a 5 o'clock shadow after 36 hours.

I just picked up a couple NOS Wapis, so I'm especially interested in figuring out the best relatively cheap way to hone.

Thanks for the advice!

A basic Norton combo set is the cheapest alternative IMO. Just don't use the lapping plate on anything but the 1,4, and 8k. If you want to go for a bit more get the DMT D8C 325 diamond plate and you'll have a bomb proof flattening stone.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

A basic Norton combo set is the cheapest alternative IMO. Just don't use the lapping plate on anything but the 1,4, and 8k. If you want to go for a bit more get the DMT D8C 325 diamond plate and you'll have a bomb proof flattening stone.

+1 on the Nortons. You do need a lapping solution for them.
Lapping could be wet/dry paper on a flat granite tile. A 4/8K
combo Norton with good strop technique goes a long way.
I have recently fallen for the SS12K hone and am now suffering
a serious case of hone acquisition disorder (HAD).

I do recommend sending one razor out for a pro tune up
while deciding. One of your NOS Wapis unless it happens
to have a fine factory edge, followed by your Dovo.