Quote Originally Posted by Ryan82 View Post
Hey Ron,

First of all stop cutting paper with your razor as a test of it's sharpness. As a rule it shouldn't be used to cut anything other than hair.

Next, the truth is you don't really need anything higher than 8k to get a comfortable shave. Anything higher is just icing on the cake. Above and beyond the 8k level your cheapest options would include:
-Barber hone
-Chinese 12k
-Pastes

You'll need a lapping stone to flatten your hones as well. You may also consider sending out your razor to be professionally honed - then all you need to worry about is touching up the edge every now and then.

Cheers,

Ryan
thanks for the advice on the paper test

Quote Originally Posted by JimmyHAD View Post
I agree with Ryan. If you want to pursue honing a lot of old razors for the fun of it the Norton 220/1k and 4/8 combos will be fine. Add a DMT D8C continuous diamond plate for lapping and that is all that you really need. Wet and dry 325 or so sandpaper on a flat surface can take the place of the diamond plate. If you stick with it the plate will be worth the price.
well it wouldn't just be for fun. i'd like to get into restoring some of my antique store finds. razors seem to be fairly simple devices so restoring them shouldn't be all that complicated. i've come to this conclusion after perusing the wiki. i guess you could consider my interest as a developing hobby restorer.

how do i know which stone to take the edge down to? my impression was that under 4k would be to bring a completely dead or damaged edge into a bevel and then sharpening takes place. at the moment i stay away from damaged edges and opt for things with damaged scales or minor cleaning duties required. if i could bring back some damaged edges that would greatly increase the amount of razors i could purchase.