Thread: What grit for maintaining an edge?

I'm fairly new to straight shaving and want to get that part mastered before I look into restoring blades and all the fun therein.

That being said, I have a fairly tough beard and want to know what grit hone is required for maintaining an edge that was originally honed by a honemeister and just needs a touch-up to get back to its peak shaveability.

A barber hone, an 8k stone or some sort of higher grit finisher (Escher, 16k shapton, 12k naniwa....) would all do the job just fine.

You don't really need to drop below 8k unless the razor is really dull.

if i were to just get one naniwa would you recommend the 8 or 12k?

You'll probably end up with both sooner or later, but I'd say get the 12k first.

I am almost certain you are right about that! Thanks for the quick reply.

remember to ask who ever honed your blade if they used tape on the spine

Just food for thought on my own journey of learning to hone razors(so many people to thank here at SRP) When I "touch up a razor" I rarely go to a finisher first, would not a combo 4k 8k stone serve even a beginer better? He can do a few laps on the 4k to take out minor chips which IMHO is almost impossible to do with an 8k without over honing.

Especially for guys like myself and the OP that have very coarse beards, I was pretty cruel to my blades in the begining and blades would deteriorate much faster than they do now that I shave better? Just thinking. Could be a grain of salt and will gladley stand corrected if wrong.

Barber hones are a different animal altogether from a water stone finisher...

Originally Posted by Kingfish

Just food for thought on my own journey of learning to hone razors(so many people to thank here at SRP) When I "touch up a razor" I rarely go to a finisher first, would not a combo 4k 8k stone serve even a beginer better? He can do a few laps on the 4k to take out minor chips which IMHO is almost impossible to do with an 8k without over honing.

Especially for guys like myself and the OP that have very coarse beards, I was pretty cruel to my blades in the begining and blades would deteriorate much faster than they do now that I shave better? Just thinking. Could be a grain of salt and will gladley stand corrected if wrong.

Barber hones are a different animal altogether from a water stone finisher...

I guess it depends on what "maintaining" means to you. I think of maintaining as a minor touchup; I would call the removing of small chips something more like repairing. Semantics, I suppose, but does highlight the importance of understand what the OP is really asking.

[QUOTE=holli4pirating;758029]I guess it depends on what "maintaining" means to you. I think of maintaining as a minor touchup; I would call the removing of small chips something more like repairing. Semantics, I suppose, but does highlight the importance of understand what the OP is really asking.[/QUOTE

I really try to choose my words carefully when helping someone. I just remember that when I started having and having a heavy beard coupled with newbie shaving skills,I use to tear edges up pretty quick. Maybe the best advice is try the finisher first.

As said above,a barber hone with 5-7 strokes will get you back in the game just fine.Of course 50 linen 100 leather after the strokes on the barber hone.