Thread: Barber/Finishing stone

First, I'd like to thank everyone here for the wonderful resource this community has been for someone new to the straight shaving world. Straight shaving is a choice I can't see myself ever regretting....

A couple months ago, I bought a professionally sharpened Dovo Astrale series 5/8 full hollow razor from classicshaving.com and have enjoyed shaving with it since. However, the edge is now in need of refreshing and I'm at a loss for what type of hone I need to continue enjoying the wonderful experience of straight razor shaving.

If anyone has advice on what I should be looking for in a hone for this purpose and where I should go about seeking one to purchase, I would greatly appreciate your input.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

I think the answer mostly depends on you. If you plan on only up keep of a razor a barber hone would be fine. If you think that you might be getting into honing razors from new or restore condition you may want to look into what system you like. There are many to chose from, I would suggest starting with a synthetic stone to start with no matter what direction you choose.

The general answer you will get when you ask this question is yes a Barber's hone will be all you need forever.

Now I will start by saying most barber's hones I have owned (I've had about 15 of them) leave stones on a 6K level, for me that isn't fine enough. Depending on the stone you can spend the same amount of money and buy a norton 4/8K stone and shave off that easily. Then when you see that you want to hone razors on your own from Ebay or a pawnshop you can hone those on the same stone, you won't need anything more then if you just had a barber's hone.

Most of us plan on getting a razor, keeping it sharp and that's the end of it. Now I am realistic and I think you will eventually want to hone more razors, find junk razors and restore them...etc. It's the nature of the beast that is this art form.

For the refresh you can use a variety of media. Barber's hone , high grit synthetic, pasted strop.

I would suggest to send it out for the refresh, but to find a good condition cheap vintage razor to practice honing on.

Okay, thanks for the input. I know I can get a Norton 4k/8k on classicshaving and similar sites, but if I'm looking for a barber hone, where would I go about finding one?

I don't think there are any barber hones made today. You might find one in our Classifieds, and I know there are a few at this site. I don't know what you really should pay for one; since they're vintage it seems to be whatever the market will bear. I'll leave it for more experienced hone shoppers to chime in on that.

If you find one you like, you can post a link to it and ask if people think it's a fair deal.

One warning on barber hones; they're generally very fast cutters but not fast enough for bevel resets. Better to say they're fast polishers.

If you stick with straight shaving, you will likely move on to honing your razors. A 12K Naniwa SS will do the finishing for you and any touching up you may require, and will be a good finisher for you at the end of your eventual honing progressions.

Good point by Ace. Unless you're stronger than anyone else who posts on the forum, you're not just buying a hone, you're starting a collection. If you follow Ace's advice, you'll start building it in a sensible way, starting with a known stone of known grit. Agreement on barber stone grits is approximate at best.

Also get a DMT coarse plate (325 grit, blue is DMT's color code for this one) about the same size as your new hone(s). You'll need it to lap your new hone(s) flat.

After the 12k, you'll want to backtrack to a 4k/8k (the Norton is kind of a forum standard) or maybe 3k/8k, and also a 1k for bevel resets. You can use your DMT 328 to lap all of these, and also for the really rough work you may run into restoring antique store/Ebay finds. But that's all probably pretty far into your future. Six months or so, if your experience is anything like mine.

Have fun, enjoy the ride, and if you're married, try to have your hones delivered to you at work!

If all you're planning to do is maintain your Dovo between honings, then I like the idea of a felt block strop loaded with .5 micron diamond spray. You should have good luck right from the start, they're almost foolproof.

Honing, though, is almost a black art. There's a long learning curve and the looming possibility of obsession. Don't plan on using the Dovo as an introductory lesson.

If you really want just a barbers hone then try ebay. They're over the place on there, and no they aren't made anymore. The last swaty I bought was almost 60$ which is why I mentioned the norton.