Thread: 4k/8k or chinese 12k?

I thought about that. It's definitely on the table. I would like to eventually get to the point where I can bevel set and stuff, so I thought maybe investing in a finishing stone to now and adding to it later would be pertinent. But that was just my thought process. Open to any suggestions though.

Originally Posted by nun2sharp

Excuse me, if all you want to do is touch ups, you can buy a barbers hone from someone here (if available in the classifieds) or ebay, and save some money.

+1. Get a barber's hone. Once you start to feel your edge going, five quick passes on the hone will get you back to shaving sharp.

I actually recommend the Nani 12K. Why? Because most will want to try to get into honing their own stuff anyways. Learning to touch up a razor off a 12K will help to establish the muscle memory and later be a descent finisher. Then you should pick up the Nani 3/8K.

I personally use a Shapton 16K for my touch-ups, but that's because my primary stones are Shapton GS's. Will I ever get rid of my Nani's? Nope. Can't get rid of a good thing.

Originally Posted by shooter74743

I actually recommend the Nani 12K. Why? Because most will want to try to get into honing their own stuff anyways. Learning to touch up a razor off a 12K will help to establish the muscle memory and later be a descent finisher. Then you should pick up the Nani 3/8K.

I personally use a Shapton 16K for my touch-ups, but that's because my primary stones are Shapton GS's. Will I ever get rid of my Nani's? Nope. Can't get rid of a good thing.

Was kinda my thought......

I think I would rather have the 12k naniwa, too.

But I haven't seen barber's hones in the wild, especially not in good shape (I don't go out looking much for them, but haven't seen them at fleas around here, just as I haven't seen piles of large fine arkansas stones like people tell me they see).

Like others have said, once I've gotten a razor in shaving shape, I have not gone below a chinese stone or an antique japanese barber hone to get things back in shape.

I avoid pasted strops (with the exception of balsa, maybe), other folks might feel different. I like to keep the edge geometry close to the honed shape so that I don't need to drop to lower grits to re-establish anything.

For just touchups, don't even mess with a stone, get a balsa strop and some chromium oxide paste.

A pasted strop will get you by, 0.5 micron diamond spray even better, but a stone is the proper solution for edge correction.

Originally Posted by shooter74743

A pasted strop will get you by, 0.5 micron diamond spray even better, but a stone is the proper solution for edge correction.

I didn't say is wasn't, but the discussion was about touchups, not edge correction. IMHO, a pasted strop will serve well.

I hope I won't be banned now for conspicuous lack of support for HAD.

Rick

Originally Posted by PensacolaTiger

I didn't say is wasn't, but the discussion was about touchups, not edge correction. IMHO, a pasted strop will serve well.

I hope I won't be banned now for conspicuous lack of support for HAD.

Rick

LOL


Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll chew on it a while and decide.

Rick,
You will not get banned for having an opinion, what works for you is just fine. All each and every one of us is after is a close and comfortable shave, there are many roads to this success.

As your experience grows, your opinions of pastes will change. Pastes aren't bad, they will get you by, kind of like a band-aid. Glen, gssixgun, did an experiment where he kept a razor in good shaving condition for quite a long period (I believe he went for close to a year) by just using diamond paste or spray. He started with a freshly honed razor IIRC & maintained the edge with the paste/spray.

What you will notice though is that most who have been at this sport for a while and are proficient at honing will "touch-up" a razor on a stone of their choice...which is edge correction as the shaving edge is not what it needs to be to provide a comfortable shave.

My personal angle to teach someone to touch up a razor is to assist with developing skills & becoming totally self sufficient at honing their own razors. Touching up a razor is an excellent first step at working towards that goal.