First Touch Up

I am very new to straight razors. My first good quality razor (DOVO) is in the mail right now. Previously i had a crappy eBay Pakistani blade. I have been reading a ton on this site and absolutely love how helpful everyone is.

But i have a question regarding hones. As i have purchased a shaveready Dovo from SRD i wont need to touch it up for a few months (according to what i have read) but when that time comes. What type of stone should i purchase? I have been looking into a norton stone and cant decide if i should get the 4000/8000 combo or just an 8000. Will i need the 4000 side to "touch up" my blade every so often? How much should i pay for a hone?

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks

or possibly a Steelex stone. Would a 6000 grit be a good enough touch up stone? the 50$ price difference between 6000 and 8000 makes me hope so

Some might say a barber hone, others a Norton 4/8 and still others a naniwa 12k. All of those choices are 'correct'. Or a Thuringan, a coticule and there are still others. I would suggest a modular paddle from SRD if all you are wanting to do is maintain a sharp razor. If, in the future, you intend to acquirre more razors , and perhaps hone from bevel setting to finishing there is time to figure out which combination of stones to get. For now the shaving and correct stropping should be the foucus IMHO.

If your only looking to touch-up you may want to go with a barber hone, chinese 12K, or pasted strop. I'm sure others will give other options also. If your thinking about honing down the road the Norton 4k/8k combo is a much used choice with one of the above finishers. for starting with a totally dull blade there is also Norton 200/1k + 4k/8k combo available in the neighborhood of $130.00. others may have amore accurate price.
Good luck in your endevours.

wow, thanks for pointing out the SRD stones. do you think that the Naniwa 8k grit stone would keep a nice sharp edge for me?

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Originally Posted by mcjacob71990

wow, thanks for pointing out the SRD stones. do you think that the Naniwa 8k grit stone would keep a nice sharp edge for me?

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If you are going to go for one stone to refresh a shave ready razor I would suggest the 12k over the 8k. Just IMHO. :shrug:

i dont see a 12k on SRD. what about a 10k?

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Originally Posted by mcjacob71990

i dont see a 12k on SRD. what about a 10k?

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I've got both. I've experimented more with the 12 than the 10. Interestingly the 10 is highly touted on knife forums but I really like the feel of the edge off of the 12. If SRD is out of stock they will have some more soon enough. I would wait and get the 12. Or if you get the modular paddle with the stick of chrom ox you will have a versatile tool that will be far more useful than one finishing stone.... IMHO.

I have the 10k and it works fine for touch ups the choice is yours . there's not much between them

Hi,

+1 on what the other posters have said.

I have found that all my Dovo razors respond very well to pasted strops.

If I need to use a stone for a touch-up, I use a 10 or 12k Naniwa (as thats what I have available).

Enjoy your new razor :)

Have fun !

Best regards

Russ

+1 on the Naniwa 12k, thats a really great stone. You can also get barber hones on eBay for $25 - $50 dependant on the brand. They are great little stones and work very well for touch ups.

At the moment I'm using a coticule than off to leather Cro2, eagerly awaiting my Nakayama :medvl:... I don't know how that will affect my system but I'll just have to play with it till it works haha :)

ok so i have heard some good things about pasted strops. How can i acquire one of these? Can i merely treat the stop i currently have? Do i need one pasted strop and one bare strop?

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Originally Posted by mcjacob71990

ok so i have heard some good things about pasted strops. How can i acquire one of these? Can i merely treat the stop i currently have? Do i need one pasted strop and one bare strop?

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IMO you absolutely need an untreated .... bare strop as your daily driver. A treated strop used daily would be too much of a good thing. If you are not on a budget the modular paddle from Straight Razor Designs is the Cadillac of pasted strops. If you want to go more frugally any old strop, balsa .....even newspaper is good.