Thread: To Hone or Pay Someone Else to Hone

I think you have two options.

1) you're going to get something super fine that will maintain the edge for a long time without having to round it over like you might do with a crox charged strop, and send a razor off to get professionally honed only once a year or so.

2) you're going to get something to hone with that will work a dull razor as well as finish it and then maintain it.

for 1, I think you could use a c12k, but there is a bit of learning curve to using them. You could also get a balsa lap strop with crox, but that also has a learning curve, and to me is not as good as good as a super finisher hone. A high $$ venture in this area would be getting a short-length japanese hone that cuts fast with a slurry and fine with water.

For 2, I think you would want at least two hones - one that cuts relatively fast as a pre finisher and one that works as a final finisher.

I think if I'm being cheap, I could get along just fine with the chinese hone that woodcraft sells, but I need to have a diamond hone in the 325 grit range to make a slurry with it and keep it flat. It cuts fairly fast with a slurry, but it doesn't cut fine. It does a great job of polishing but cuts very slowly with water only.

I would also agree with the above that you should have several razors. I always like to keep at least two in top shape, so that if something goofy happens, when I go to shave in the morning, I can just pick up the second. Three out of my five razors were less than $20, but as a woodworker, I already had the tooling and stones available to make inexpensive razors shave ready. I think for most people who are dealing with good razors to start, you don't need to go below pre-finisher level unless you really round bevels over with a loaded strop (I don't use a loaded strop for that reason, and prefer a super-fine finish stone instead - geometry never gets out of whack).

Anyway, when you're learning to hone, that's probably a good idea, too, because you'll not get stuck with adverse experience with one razor holding you up - say if you hone and you're not getting as good of an edge as you want, and you're stuck with a razor that's pulling.

Lastly, honing is a skill builder of sorts. You might not be as good at it right off the bat as you'd like, but keep in mind that you can do it fairly cheaply (a c12 and a diamond hone should be doable for $100, and you can shave off a c12 comfortably with nothing but a bare strop or some palm stropping with good technique). Err on the side of any issues with known good hones being "the indian and not the arrow" when you're trying to figure out what you're doing.

Just to expand on why I don't think I could have learned to hone with one razor ..... Let's say I got it shave ready in a honing session .. how long would it be before I needed to hone it again ? If it was an extended period of time would I remember what I did to get it shave ready the last time I honed it ? How about developing muscle memory in terms of stroke, nuances of pressure ? I just knew that I would need a lot of practice. So more razors gave me the material to get more practice and after some months of honing many razors I did develop some skills that are ingrained now. Still learn new stuff as I continue to practice but the foundation was important. Just IME. YMMV.

Thanks for the suggestions. Sounds like I need to start looking for another razor to buy. In terms of the hone, I assume you're referring to a Norton 4000/8000 hone? If so, does anyone have any suggestions where I can buy or find something similar? Seems like everywhere I look they're out of stock. Also, does honing every 75 shaves sound about right? I tried slicing a piece of hair last night and without holding down both sides of the hair it wouldn't slice though it which is why I'm inquiring about hones/honing.

Originally Posted by Straightrazzin

Also, does honing every 75 shaves sound about right?

Well not to me, I'm used to shaving with freshly honed blades (honing myself) so I'm spoiled and would be hitting the hones waaaay before that...

Was just checking out some other posts and it sounds like someone else (no surprise) is having the same issue as me. Another member recommended a 12k grit Naniwa Super Stone. What do you think about this is my one and only, get my razor sharp hone? Seems pretty different from a 4/8k hone. Also, can anyone recommend a quality US straightrazor. Already have a Dovo so looking for something a little different, assuming they're any good!

A naniwa, or any 12k, is fine for touching up or finishing an already sharp razor. If you want something to sharpen/finish a norton 4000/8000 combo stone is more suited to the task. The 12k is icing on the cake.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

A naniwa, or any 12k, is fine for touching up or finishing an already sharp razor. If you want something to sharpen/finish a norton 4000/8000 combo stone is more suited to the task. The 12k is icing on the cake.

Or he could just buy all hones ever made, just like you!

Originally Posted by Blix

Or he could just buy all hones ever made, just like you!

Tried to stimulate the economy as much as I could but it didn't work. I have tried many of them but sold most and now just stick with the chosera 1k for bevels, the norton 4/8 and usually an escher y/g. Occasionally a coticule or my one nakayama asagi if I'm in the mood for one of those.

Originally Posted by Straightrazzin

Was just checking out some other posts and it sounds like someone else (no surprise) is having the same issue as me. Another member recommended a 12k grit Naniwa Super Stone. What do you think about this is my one and only, get my razor sharp hone? Seems pretty different from a 4/8k hone. Also, can anyone recommend a quality US straightrazor. Already have a Dovo so looking for something a little different, assuming they're any good!

Most vintage US straight razors will be fine. Check the razor clubs to see what is in use by SRP members. The options for hones above are all good ones. The major question is selecting a hone is "What kind of honing do you want to do?". If you are just maintaining an edge that is not damaged in any way a Barber's hone or 12k Naniwa would be fine as would a pasted strop of some sort. Once you get into more than just refining an edge you get to the 4/8k hones like the Norton combo. Here is a point that will help. The finer the hone grit (12k is finer than 8k and 8k is finer than 4k) the smoother the edge will shave and the slower the hone will remove metal. Taking a dull razor or one with a rolled edge to and 8k hone will take a lot of time to get an edge. Using a 12k hone on the same damaged razor will take longer than you would accept and you will give up. The best suggestion I can offer is to send out the razor that has the rolled edge for repair and a fresh edge, learn not to damage your razor and pick up a Barber's hone of finisher of your choice. Once you notice the razor getting dull take it to the finisher before it goes too far. A Barber's hone may give you a bit more time before you need to hone the razor. If you are going to get into repairing the edge you should get more razors to practice with and a full set of hones from 1k to ~12k. If you try to sneak into honing razors by purchasing more or less than you need in grit sizes you will not be happy with the results as far as shave smoothness or time to hone is concerned. There is no way around that. Most professional razor honing is done on hones finer than 8k and may even have pasted strops mixed in. You will not get that result with an 8k hone. A 12k may get you closer to that finished edge but to repair a razor with that hone, forget it. I feel the best way to get into honing your own razors is, as noted above, to have more than one razor, start by just maintaining your edges with a fine hone. If you need to fix an edge send it out. If you want to learn how to repair edges, buy a full set of hones and another razor to learn on, preferably a good quality razor for a low price. Good luck.

Minimally a barbers hone and a leather strop is enough. I agree with JimmyHAD and others about some additional equipment being better. But, a barbers hone and a leather strop will maintain shave readiness.