Thread: Looking for my first hone

When you say "put an edge on," do you mean that you want to sharpen your own razors, or just keep a sharp razor sharp?

If the latter, then a barber hone, a coticule, or a high grit waterstone or natural stone will all serve that purpose.

If the former, then you need to do more reading, as you will need to set a bevel and go up from there.

Umm putting an edge on your razor
Does it have a good edge already? then a touch up or finishing hone is probably what you want (naniwa 12k, C12k, barber hone)
new factory honed razors usually needs more so naniwa 3/8k or norton 4/8k or maybe a coticule

Picking one hone can be hard if what you need is a set, and i still dont know exactly what you mean by putting an edge on your razor

I edited it for clarity.

My razor is starting to pull, I just want a general maintanance stone, like a barbers hone.

What about this?

Vintage coticule - Straight Razor Place Classifieds

I think coticules in general are excellent for razor maintenance. They've been used for that purpose for well over a century.

For overall honing I think the norton combo 4/8k is the best hone to get since you can hone old razors on it and touch up sharper ones. Coticules are awesome, especially the old ones, but they can be difficult to use although I use mine constantly.

I'm a big fan of the Nortons, but if you only want to maintain razors, I think the coticule is a better option.

I updated my original post with my items of consideration. Out of those, what would you guys recommend for a first timer?

I would not recommend one of the tiny barber hones. I just do not know how one could make a honing stroke on something that small.

With a coticule, I would say ask the seller what he thinks. For a touchup hone, you want something that will cut at a decent rate and give a fine finish. Coticules are all different, but the seller should have an idea how his specific one will behave. Some are very very slow with just water, and you may or may not be comfortable using a slurry.

For the Shapton - Never used one, so I don't know. But I think some finishing hones are rather slow cutters, so they are not always ideal for touchup hones. Someone who has used the Shapton could tell you more about it.

Oh hell. I've heard good things about whipped dog but I consider the fact that he is selling the fragments of busted barber hone for those prices to be disturbing. If you add together the price of all of those pieces, they would add up to about what that hone should sell for when it's intact. If you want a barber hone, I'd look elsewhere.

I think the coticule will probably be fine. The Shapton are pretty fast cutters, so for touchups, you would probably start with using only about 5 strokes, same as a barber hone.

A barber hone certainly would be the cheapest option, and if you don't like the edge you get from it, you can probably re-sell it for about what you paid for it.