Thread: Setting Bevel With Barber Hone and sharpening razor to shave ready:

All,

Can I set the bevel with a barber hone on a Dovo 5/8 tortoise and then sharpen up to shave ready
with it? I can tape the spine if suggested.
MHW

I'm sure you could...but it would take forever. I think I read a member (Utopian perhaps?) mentioned that he had done this in the past. Hopefully he will chime in.

Check Post 3
http://straightrazorpalace.com/honin...bers-hone.html

Like porridgeorange says it's probably possible but if you want to do a one stone honing use slurry. Making barberhone slurry doesn't seem like a great idea but you can use slurrystones of (soft) natural stones like a Coticule. Coticule slurry stones are inexpensive and readily available.

Having personally done it, I can say it does work. It took a lot of time but it came out pretty good. I just used the hone dry and every so often hit the surface of the stone with some 800 grit to clean the metal off of it.

1K stones are fairly cheap. In the UK they can be had for around £20. That's all I'll say.

It can be done, but there are other, far better ways to do it.
I have tried this twice.
Once on a three line Swaty, a terrible experience. Took a mighty long time, and left lots of microchipping.
The other was just the other day on a two-sided Norton razor hone, and that was actually not all that bad.
15-20 minutes from start to finish.
This Hone is somewhat expensive though, and not that big either.
I'd say you are better served with hones meant for doing this kind of job.

Sounds like trying to drive a long par-5 with a putter (touch-up hone); I would invest in an inexpensive 1k bevel setter (the driver in this analogy). Might be an interesting experiment, though I would rather read about others doing it. YMMV

Thanks All for your input! I have spent over 70 minutes honing my 5/8 Dovo Tortoise this afternoon on my little Pike Barber hone and over 30 minutes on the cloth side and 100 laps on the # 827 Illinois Russian Strop. I used no tape at all and did the X strokes very lightly on the hone, Dry.
You know what , I just got a very close shave with just one pass for a change. I then dried the razor following-up with 25 on the cloth side and 50 on the leather , oiled and placed in cabinet for tomorrow. I think taking time really does pay off!

Congrats! on a job well done. I have sharpened about 12 with a pocketknife hone followed by a barbers hone. It works! and teaches how to relax and take your time. I just bought a new barbers hone (Carborundum) and found it works a bit better thand the Boss. May be that the grit is finer, or just that the stone is faster. I believe one is Aluminum oxide (Boss) and the other is Silicon Oxide (Carborundum). I was going to invest in some of the better named ones, but with the few razors I have and how well they are shaving I am questioning the purchase. If I were going to sharpen for others maybe, but just for me I think I am set.

Happy shaves!

What did our grandfathers hone their razors with?
They did not have any fancy Norton stones and the like!
They might not have had more time, as we spend more
on ours!
MHW