Getting Back In The Game - New Hones

[StraightRazorDave]

Hey all,

I used to be an active member on here a while back, but ended up getting rid of all my stuff for various reasons. Regardless, I have decided to get back in straight shaving! I have been shaving with a few vintage safety razors and have been getting good shaves, but I've missed a lot of aspect of straight shaving. The number one thing I missed: HONING and STONES!

Before when I started on my straight journey, I picked up a bunch of stones, got rid of some, tried some more, and a lot of trial and error. But now since I've been through the motions already, I'm going to start with a nice new set.

Firstly, I'll be picking up a Nakayama finisher from Alex. I'm going to keep my natural stones to 1 for a bit, as I learned that that all I really needed and I loved using a Japanese Natural the most.

Secondly, I was thinking of picking up a set of synthetic stones. I've used the Shapton Glass stones and the Nortons, but I think I want to give the Naniwa SuperStones a shot since I've hear nothing but great things about them. I was thinking of a 1k-5k-8k-12k progression (assuming I needed the bevel set) then moving onto the J-Nat. Does that sound reasonable? I have a worn out DMT D8C (325 grit), but I think I would need to get a new one that would actually work for lapping! I was thinking of the XC or the XXC since it's primary use would be lapping the Naniwas.

I think I'm also going to pick up a 2" horsehide strop from Tony Miller as I used to love the feel of stropping on that.

Anyways, I just thought I would post that I'm back in the game and my plan of action! I know what I liked and what worked best for me, so I'm starting fresh knowing exactly what to get.

Oh, I forgot one thing though....razors! I will need to pick up a couple of razor, but that's secondary to hones