Thread: I finally cut my hones in half! Worked out great!

Making Lapping stone out of 220 is a very good idea. As for narrow stones I'm not on your side. I've heard that they are good with knives, but for razors wide stone is very comfortable. One of the reasons why I don't like eschers, slim piece of stone with which you balance between honing and cutting your finger.

Originally Posted by Zelenbakh

Making Lapping stone out of 220 is a very good idea. As for narrow stones I'm not on your side. I've heard that they are good with knives, but for razors wide stone is very comfortable. One of the reasons why I don't like eschers, slim piece of stone with which you balance between honing and cutting your finger.

Well this is great. First I argue against the narrow hone and now I have to defend it.

There is nothing wrong with a narrow hone. Realize that the Norton and other hones most of us use for razors were not, are not, designed for razors. Any razor hone (Japanese hones excepted) made or cut in the past 150 years was made 2 inches or less. Clearly there was a reason for that and the main reason was that that there was no need for it to be any wider because most of the honing takes place near the edge of the hone anyway. 3 inch wide hones are easier for beginners to learn how to balance the razor flat on the hone, but all honing techniques can be accomplished on a narrower hone. Lynn's circle strokes are the most efficient means of removing metal, but they are just a slight modification from long used diagonal chisel strokes demonstrated in the Maestro Livi videos, and they can be done on any width of stone.

Now, cutting your fingers is another issue. That is your (and on occasion, my) fault, not the hones'.

Well, historical argument is definitely convincing. But still there are personal preferences, and they are for wider stone.

Originally Posted by Zelenbakh

Well, historical argument is definitely convincing. But still there are personal preferences, and they are for wider stone.

If the only girl at the dance is ugly, and you wanna dance with a girl, then you are going to be dancing with an ugly girl.

Preference without a choice is not a preference, it's a lack of options.

The only modern hones available for straight razor honers are tool hones that happen to be 3 inches wide so that is what most modern straight razor honers learn to use so of course that is what they come to prefer.

I was hoping that the the OP would help answer the age old question of "does size matter?" There ain't much resolution here. I guess that's why it's an age old question.

Originally Posted by Utopian

If the only girl at the dance is ugly, and you wanna dance with a girl, then you are going to be dancing with an ugly girl.

Preference without a choice is not a preference, it's a lack of options.

The only modern hones available for straight razor honers are tool hones that happen to be 3 inches wide so that is what most modern straight razor honers learn to use so of course that is what they come to prefer.

I use natural stones, mostly Jnats, they are rather wide. The only thin one is escher and one coticule could be wider.

If one has to dance with an ugly girl, presumably a thin/narrow one would be chosen all things being equal. :-)

In all seriousness, thanks for all the great feedback on this thread. I enjoy SR shaving for many reasons, but one of the key reasons is that it’s 10,000% more fun and interesting than shaving with pressurized goo and a plastic disposable. A big part of the fun – at least for me – is being able to experiment with all sorts of different techniques and products. As an example, I’ve made a number of strops – some paddles, some hanging, some as narrow as 1 inch, some actually wider than 3 inches, some short, some long, some with balsa, some with chromium oxide, some with graphite, etc., etc., etc. Which one (or ones) work best? It’s entirely inconclusive (and will probably remain inconclusive), but I’m having a blast trying them all out. As this relates to hones, a narrow hone may or may not be best, but trying one out could be a lot of fun. I suspect, perhaps, that the “fun factor” played at least a small role in the OP’s decision to half his hones.

Again, thanks for the post and all the quality feedback.

So honed 2 razors last night. The hones worked great, but they worked great before. The size was exactly as I suspected and exactly what I wanted.

Oh and as far as the finger cutting goes, I definitely experienced that with my 12k Chinese, but these hones are a lot thicker and it didn't seem to be an issue. I don't have big hands though, so it might be different for others.

Thanks for all the posting everyone, it has kept things interesting!