My Plan for Honing - help spend my money

OK, after avoiding honing for the first few months of shaving, I think I'm ready to buy a few hones and get started on the other half of this addiction.

I've reviewed the honing wiki for newbies, asked a couple of questions in the stropping forum, and here's what I'm thinking:

1) The Norton three piece set that includes 220/1000, and 4000/8000 combo stones, and a lapping stone.
2) A two piece hard felt strop. One strop treated with 1.0mic diamond spray, the other treated with .5 CrO2 spray.
3) My trusty SRD strop with webbed fabric and Premium IV bridle.

Obviously, the webbed fabric/bridle is my daily strop.

I'm planning to use the two felt strops to maintain my already set edges and possibly go back to the 8K on occasion for those.

I'm hoping to use the 220/1000/4000/8000/1mic/.5mic progression to hone up the occasional eBay/flea market find. I'm not talking about radical restos like Brad and some others attempt, but rather removing the occasional small nick, and setting and poslishing a good edge.

Sound like I've picked the right tools for my needs?

--David

PS - This may be heresy, but can I use the Nortons to maintain my pocket knives and kitchen knives as well?

That is basically the set up I am using minus the felt and spray. I have been very happy with the results. I added a Naniwa 12k SS as a finisher but I always test shave off the 8k before going to it. The 8k edge is not bad at all, could live happily with just that. If you get all you can from your stones the sprays should give you a very nice edge I would think. I'm sure some more experienced members will be around with there opinions but that setup seems to be the classic way to get started.

You should be able to do just fine with that setup. You probably wont need the 220 unless youre doing restores and need that extra oomph to remove chips or dings :)

Sounds like a good setup! I agree about testing off the 8k when you're getting started--that way you know the blade is shave-ready off the stones.

That's the best way to employ pastes--use them to enhance an already good edge rather than compensate for neglected honing. Your edges will last longer when you employ them that way.

Buy the Norton 4000/8000.
Learn how to use it.
Then you decide if you want to buy more.

As mentioned buy the norton 4/8 and learn it, it is the best to learn on imo. Make sure you lap it well.

You can easily shave off the 8K if it's done correctly and you can set a bevel on the 4K side if you need to, it just takes some extra time. Raising a slurry on the 4K side helps speed up the bevel setting a long with circle strokes.

That Norton combo set is a great Cornerstone set, honestly it really can hone any razor that is worth honing...

You have a very good plan in mind...

IIRC
SRD still has the best US price on these sets too...

Thanks for the input, everyone. I thought about just getting the 4k/8k, but by the time you buy the flattening stone, I can add another $20 and get the 220/1000. Seems logical to me.

Also, I'm getting the felt strop either way to maintain my edges, so having it as a finishing step is a nice dual purpose. I like the "cornerstone" comment. If I want to try something different in the future, adding a finishing stone will be a relatively small cost. If I decide I don't want to do this at all (unlikely) I can move the whole set on eBay for a small loss.

Glen, based on my research you are correct about SRD's pricing of the set. Thanks for the validation of the plan.

Here we go...

I just spent as much money on a finishing strop setup and "beginner" hones as I did on my initial razor/strop/brush purchase, and I didn't exactly go cheap on those. "This hobby can save you money", yeah...right.

But I'm looking forward to hours hunched over a workbench in a cold/hot garage getting frustrated while trying to patiently polish an edge on a razor. Isn't amazing what we consider "fun"?

--David

Absolutely, dude. What would possess a man to think that it is profitable and ingenious to put a sharp knife across his throat. Or why would he spend countless hours trying to make that knife so sharp that it could fillet an air molecule with the slightest touch. And further, why would that man waste the same money that could purchase a month's worth of top-notch disposable razors to get some rusty old relic that some dusty old fart once used to carve away at his own face that an equally dusty old granny found stuck in the bottom of his dingy underwear drawer and decided to hock at a less-than-reputable pawn shop across the street from a brutal pimp's favorite corner?

We do it because we like it.

HA! Well said, sir.

Well, except for the dingy underwear drawer part.

--David