Thread: My first hone ?

Ok, i just bought my first straight razor, a decent looking Butcher Brothers Sheffield. I had a small little pocket hone that seems to have a fairly fine grit, though i'm not sure of the exact grit, after reading a few articles here, i started honing. It actually got fairly sharp fairly quick, just a little uneven, the end of the blade will actually shave, but the base of blade is still kind of dull. I'm thinking this is partly due to the fact that the stone is 1" by 4", and mainly due to the fact that i'm a complete newbie to this. My question is, what is a good hone to start with? I have a strop, and my budget is pretty small, and I'm noticing that alot of hones are pretty pricey. Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Welcome to the site.

There is a TON of info on this in the Wiki Frequently Asked Questions - Straight Razor Place Wiki I would strongly suggest reading threw it.

Also let us know your sharpening background, hard to tell where to start with suggestions when we don't know anything about your current experience.

ok, i'll definately give that a read. over the years, i've done some knife sharpening, but never with much success, i just kind of got the urge to start using a straight razor, and picked this one up. everywhere that i've read has suggested having it professionally honed, but i don't really know who to go to for that, and i know eventually, i'll have to hone it myself, i'm just kind of at a loss for where to start

The Bester 1200 is a great bevel setter for knives and razors, and can be the only stone you need for kitchen knives. And it will introduce you to the wonderful world of water stones.

ok, i'lll look into that one, what would be good for regular sharpening?

There are several good hone meisters listed in the classifieds and any one of them will get the edge shave ready. I suggest you get another razor, send one to get honed and one you work on your honing skills with. That way you have a blade you know is shave ready and what to aim for when your working at it.

You mentioned that you have tried sharpening knives, do you have any stones currently or do you need to get a new set?

+1 on sending a razor out to be honed. That's the easiest way to find out what "sharp" means.

Originally Posted by recurvist22

. . . over the years, i've done some knife sharpening, but never with much success

Razors are more difficult than knives, IMHO. But the skill can be learned. There's a difference in scale:

. . . knife sharpening usually stops (because it's "sharp") at about 1000 grit;

. . . razor sharpening usually starts at about 1000 grit, and goes to 8000 grit or higher.

The lowest-cost way to get started is with sandpaper, micro-abrasive paper, and pasted strops. It's not the _best_ way to sharpen a razor, but it'll get a "shave-ready" edge. And (to forestall objections) it's not _easier_ than using sharpening stones.

Read the Wiki articles. Everything you need to know is there.


The most-commonly-recommended "beginner's hone", here, is a Norton 4K/8K combination stone. That will cost you around $70, I think. I bought one recently, and it works very nicely. I'm still working on the fine points of using it. I'm still using sandpaper (650 / 1000 / 2000 grit) for the "rough work".

Charles

Awesome, thanks for all the help guys. i'll check out that norton stone. i saw one on ebay that's 1000/6000 combination, would that be ok? the reason i ask, is that it's $30 instead of the 70 lol

1/6k is quite a wide spread of grits but you should be Ok with that. You'll probably have to spend a little more time on the 6k to remove the 1k grit scratches, and then you can move on to your pocket hone to finish.

From what you describe it sounds like a barber hone so it'll probably be c.10k, which would make a good finisher.

But I do agree that the best way to get a truly sharp edge is to send the razor out to a pro. That'll give you the pro honed razor to use as a benchmark to judge your own honing against when you get your second razor. And if you're anything like most of us here then 2 razors is just the start!

Good luck and keep us posted!

From the description of your pocket hone I doubt that it is suitable for razors. Most stones of that size are of a coarse grit suitable for knives.

I would not use the Norton 1/6. It is the Norton 4/8 that we rely upon.
The 6k edge can be shaved with if followed by a abrasive pasted paddle strop but the 8k edge is better. Remember that these hones will last you a lifetime so pick one that is suitable for the task the first time.

The best use of your money is to send out the razor to be honed and then invest in a hone/abrasive pasted paddle strop that will maintain the edge.

Forget that pocket hone.

Hope this helps,