Thread: beginner looking for stone

I mean, if you have a badly rounded or even chipped edge from ebay or a flea market, working on a coticule works, if you don´t mind to work the whole day. I just prefer faster low grit hones. Doesn´t have to be 1000 grit, could propably be 600 or even less. I´m just too lazy to buy another hone, as I have a 1000 grit synthetic.

Maintaining your razors is a whole different story. As long as you don´t have to hone billions per day, I don´t mind spending a little more time on each of them. For Pro honers, a single coticule might be too slow, but for me, maintaining only my razors, it is enough.

If you want to say, it´s two hones, because of the one low grit hone I use on a razor at ONE time when i got it off ebay or whatever and then never again (unless I don´t screw it up by hitting something hard), I don´t mind. I don´t count words. So, I say, TWO hones are enough: a coticule plus a low grit synthetic.

Peace and regards,
tok

So again I ask would or would not that be true for most every single stone mentioned above????

To maintain a razor one simply needs "one high enough grit stone" if, as you stated, one has enough time...

I mean, I am perfectly capable of honing a razor from start to finish on a Norton 8k myself, but I would not recommend it for a newb...

For years I never believed that a Barber's hone would fully sharpen a razor, but guess what, after lapping multiple Barber's hones for sale, and testing every single one, on a single dull razor, to make sure they were smooth, that one razor is now sharp enough to shave...

So I guess I could say that a Barber's hone is a "One Stone Hone" but wouldn't that be a bit misleading???

Which leads back to the original statement of waiting a bit before even considering a hone purchase...

In most points, I agree with you.

Of course, you are able to go the whole way on a finisher. And of course, it takes a lot of time.
On a coticule, I need around half an hour to get a sharp razor starting from a razor that is not even able to shave arm hair, using the unicot method. Maybe, this works on other hones as well. I don´t know, I never tried it. Did others? Uniescher, Unithurry, Uniwhatever? I´d be very interested(Seriously).

(another point might be, that coticules are not known for overhoning, but I don´t really know, of how much importance this is, when you start.)

To make this clear: This is only my personal experience and opinion.

Regards,
tok

Originally Posted by toughluck

Looking to get a single stone for refreshing my straight razor strictly, can I get away with one stone and what would you recommend?

Strictly refreshing? With one stone? Yes.

I use and would recommend a barber hone. They were made for the purpose of refreshing a razor edge. They are easy to use and generally cut fast; 2-7 laps. I would also recommend almost anything between (roughly) 10k to 16k and up.

Originally Posted by tok

In most points, I agree with you.

Of course, you are able to go the whole way on a finisher. And of course, it takes a lot of time.
On a coticule, I need around half an hour to get a sharp razor starting from a razor that is not even able to shave arm hair, using the unicot method. Maybe, this works on other hones as well. I don´t know, I never tried it. Did others? Uniescher, Unithurry, Uniwhatever? I´d be very interested(Seriously).

(another point might be, that coticules are not known for overhoning, but I don´t really know, of how much importance this is, when you start.)

To make this clear: This is only my personal experience and opinion.

Regards,
tok

Tok my advice to you is the exact same as you gave, only just a bit different direction...

You might want to read

Here: Hones - Straight Razor Place Forums

and Here: Honing - Straight Razor Place Forums

and Here: Advanced Honing Topics - Straight Razor Place Forums



You might just learn something about Hones and Honing razors

Originally Posted by gssixgun

So I guess I could say that a Barber's hone is a "One Stone Hone" but wouldn't that be a bit misleading???
..

I don't think so you are misleading.
As many people knows there is Barber hones which has 2 sides. simple one would be Cmon, frictionate00 etc. you can use any of those hones sharpen blade from dull state to shave ready condition .

Originally Posted by hi_bud_gl

I don't think so you are misleading.
As many people knows there is Barber hones which has 2 sides. simple one would be Cmon, frictionate00 etc. you can use any of those hones sharpen blade from dull state to shave ready condition .

No Sham, I would consider that two stones also, much like I don't call a Norton 4/8 or a Naniwa 3/8 "One Stone" which honestly are probably the best recommendations to learn honing on

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Some thoughts on honing razors..
Aspiring honers are often not clear about what they are trying to accomplish when it comes to honing razors. In particular, they are often unsure of what they are doing and how often they should be doing it. Some questions you might want to answer for yourself before you start buying hones: this also means that if you are not sure of the answer here, you should shave more, and wait to buy hones until you can answer these questions.... I normally recommend 6 months of shaving before even thinking about honing

Ditto this advise (and all the great hone info I cut out).

If you are a beginner, just invest in a shave ready razor, a decent strop (ruprazor ftw), a cheap badger hair brush, and some good shaving soap. You can get all of this for under 70 bucks if you play your cards right. A decent hone will cost that much just in itself, and you will need to invest in a lap to flatten it as well, doubling to tripling your investment into something you don't know if you will stick out.

Not to mention that if you get a decent shave ready razor and strop, and read up on proper shaving and stropping technique, you won't even need to hone your razor for 4-6 months. By the time your razor needs to be honed from shaving, you will know if you want to stick with it or not, and then the investment in hones is much more reasonable.

If you really NEED a hone, then I'd recommend the combo norton 4k/8k. For my first hone I purchased a naniwa 12k, and (for me anyway) it takes quite a while to refresh the edge of a dulling razor. 8k is already at the polishing grit, and if you need to do heavier work, you have the 4k on the other side.

Best option imho either:
(1) a coticule, because it's a good finisher but you could also use it to reset a bevel
(2) naniwa 12k, good finisher/touch-upper

The two above are what I have and they are very good stones. There are alternatives for the naniwa 12k, but not for the coticule (because of the flexibility of the stone).

+1 from me on that.

I too use only a coticule, which is far more than just a finisher for me.

When I purchase some second hand razor that needs setting a bevel, I just go for 500 then 1000 grit paper and after that it goes to a coti. Personally, I don't need to get another stone for doing it once for a razor.

Apart from being stylish and looking "pro" there can't probably be any more cost-effective setup IMO.

cheers and good luck,
Matt