Thread: Hone advice for a beginner.

I just purchased a new Dovo best quality razor. I'm not expecting to need a hone to set bevels or sharpen dull edges yet, just one for basic maintenance. What would you recommend? I'm torn between looking for a barber hone or getting a high grit (8000 or so) waterstone.

You have a few options for maintenance of the blade.
You can get a barber hone, 12k Super stone , or 4/8k Norton.

I think the most versatile of the three will be the 4/8k combo, you can shave nicely off the 8k, and if you add a CrO strop to the set up you will be in great shape. On the other hand if you need more than a touch up on the razor you can always use the 4k side then go back to the 8k.

I agree with everything above. The only addition is, if you only want a maintenance hone, and you need it to be cheap, then a barber hone is your best bet.

Originally Posted by mainaman

You have a few options for maintenance of the blade.
You can get a barber hone, 12k Super stone , or 4/8k Norton.

I think the most versatile of the three will be the 4/8k combo, you can shave nicely off the 8k, and if you add a CrO strop to the set up you will be in great shape. On the other hand if you need more than a touch up on the razor you can always use the 4k side then go back to the 8k.

Looks like I may spring for the 4/8k combo Norton. Is it generally recommended to use stropping pastes on a hanging strop or a paddle strop? This hobby keeps getting more and more expensive...

Originally Posted by MisterSensitive

Looks like I may spring for the 4/8k combo Norton. Is it generally recommended to use stropping pastes on a hanging strop or a paddle strop? This hobby keeps getting more and more expensive...

And you thought you were going to save all kinds of money from buying cartirdges???LOL

Hold on. Stropping pastes CAN be used, but they do not have to be. You can shave off of the 8k--you truly can. You can get a slightly more comfortable shave off of a higher grit hone or off of pasted strops. This does not have to be expensive.

Originally Posted by MisterSensitive

I just purchased a new Dovo best quality razor.

I'd say hold off on hones and pastes for the time being. You can always do it when you need it.
At this point your primarily objective is to just learn how to shave with the razor. If in a month, or two, or six you think your razor needs a bit of improvement try 100 laps on newspaper. If that doesn't do it, get a chromium oxide, or a barber hone, or a norton (in this exact order of expense and aggressiveness).

Really, if you want to be cheap you can be, it's your choice either way. However your learning curve will most likely be negatively affected by acquiring honing equipment prematurely.

When you purchase your razor most important is to get a high quality strop. I am always puzzled at people cheaping out on their strop and then obsess over pastes hones and whatnot. The smart choice is to get the best strop you can afford, even if you'd slice it and end up replacing it, and learn to use it properly. That will have the highest impact on your edge in both short and long term, far bigger than any hone you can buy.

Shaving with straight razor isn't complicated, expensive or particularly hard. One just need to use a little bit of brain and patience and reign in the modern day impulse of trying to solve any perceived problem with more equipment.

Originally Posted by gugi

When you purchase your razor most important is to get a high quality strop. I am always puzzled at people cheaping out on their strop and then obsess over pastes hones and whatnot. The smart choice is to get the best strop you can afford, even if you'd slice it and end up replacing it, and learn to use it properly. That will have the highest impact on your edge in both short and long term, far bigger than any hone you can buy.

+1+1+1

So many people say make your first strop a crappy one. Having done that and replaced it and replaced it again I can tell you a good quality strop makes a world of difference. In the end my 2 crappy ones prices probably would have equaled a decent strop but now I have had ot pay for 2 crappy ones and a decent one. Yes you will nick the edges and cut a smile into it but it is amazing what a little epoxy and sand paper will fix. As well if you pick one that you can replace the leather only it will save some $$ when it is time to say goodbye.

When you get your new fancy strop just focus on nice even strokes and put as much focus into stropping as you do shaving. I think many of us beginners take such uber care infront of the mirror while shaving watching blade angle, pressure, posture, blade and point location to other body parts and so on. But when we get on the strop we treat it like we are sitting in front of a cheap steak that we will fight through, just to end the hunger.

I bought a 1k and 4/8k combo only because all my razors were old antique store, ebay purchases and it was cheaper for me to buy these and learn to hone that send all razors out. But if you look at the price of professional honing for one or two razors the payback on buying hones is not worth it. As well if you only have 1 razor and your trying to touch it up yourself you really are not getting all the practice and experience to master it. So everytime you hit the stones with it you risk causing a problem.

This obviously is just my experience and other I am sure will disagree with some, but it feels like I have made almost every mistake known to shaving in the past 6 weeks and taken some steps to correct.

I think one thing that I haven't seen mentioned is that when first starting out, it is hard to put a very nice finish on a razor just because you don't yet have the feel of the razor down to the point that it is an extension of your hand. Just from a month of shaving, stropping, etc., your honing will improve drastically because your familiarity with the razor enables you to more easily and consistently use the light, even touch that is necessary to get a very nice edge. At least that has been my experience.

How about a coticule? The "barber hone-sized" models aren't that expensive and it is virtually impossible to overhone if you just want to "touch-up".