Thread: Honing questions.

Hi guys I am looking to start doing my own honing, I have been sending my razors away but came to the conclusion that I should really start doing my own.
The only problem is I have a few questions if you could help:-
1,what grits should I have? Is there a few "must have's"
2, is the norton stones the best out there and nothing else will do or is it personal preference? I have seen some welsh and Japanese stones for good prices.
3, would you recommend getting some razors to practice on rather my best ones?

Thanks guys

Originally Posted by sweeneychris

Hi guys I am looking to start doing my own honing, I have been sending my razors away but came to the conclusion that I should really start doing my own.
The only problem is I have a few questions if you could help:-
1,what grits should I have? Is there a few "must have's"

Standard starting set up is Norton 1k, 4/8k, CrO or Diamond spray on linen/felt/leather.
As far as must have obviously 1k for bevel setting , then 3 or 5k , and an 8k. You can add higher grits if you want later when you learn how to get the best out of the 8k stone.

2, is the norton stones the best out there and nothing else will do or is it personal preference? I have seen some welsh and Japanese stones for good prices.

There is no best stone set up. There are a bunch very well tested systems that all work well if you know what you are doing. Norton is a one of those systems, there is also Super stones by Naninwa, and Shapton Glass. Do not jump into naturals just yet, you need to learn to set bevels, then get the best out of your synthetic progression before you can get any benefit from a natural. When you decide to get a natural stone you need to do a very good research of what stones are going to work and what are not. Some naturals will refine 8k synthetic edge some will not. Buying Jnats from unknown sellers usually results in buying stone that is good for door stop only. If you want a quality Jnat get it from a reputable seller.

3, would you recommend getting some razors to practice on rather my best ones?

Thanks guys

I'd use practice razor to learn honing.

Totally agree with Mainaman. Synthetics, like Norton are the easiest to understand when you're starting out. The only thing I'd add is a DMT plate for lapping the hones. Most, if not all stones need to be lapped even before you start. So that would be one of the first purchases I'd do, with a Norton 4/8. That's if you're honing your own razors. Once you start getting some off ebay or non shave ready, then get the 1K, but depending on you, this can last until one of your last steps before you get into other systems.

The Cro and/or Diamond spray will help you avoid getting a finishing stone for a while.

It's all very personal, but this is the easiest way to get into honing your own razors. It also avoids spending a ton of money right away, in my opinion.

Now please take all this with a grain of salt. I'm not saying I'm a pro. Just what I've experienced and what I've read. I wish I would have listened to this when I started buying hones. I bought too many and not the right ones for the time and almost gave up.

The more recent version for you



Some thoughts on honing razors..

Aspiring honers are often not clear about what they are trying to accomplish when it comes to honing razors. In particular, they are often unsure of what they are doing and how often they should be doing it. Some questions you might want to answer for yourself before you start buying hones: this also means that if you are not sure of the answer here, you should shave more, and wait to buy hones until you can answer these questions.... I normally recommend 6 months of shaving before even thinking about honing

■ Are you an "end-user"; someone who only hones a previously shave-ready blade back to shave-ready?
■ Are you a hobbyist who is chasing the absolute finest edge that may be obtained where money is no object?
■ Are you a frugal shaver who is after the cheapest way to complete your morning shave?
■ Are you a collector who needs to take E-bay specials from butt-ugly to shave-ready?
■ Are you a Honemiester; someone who gets paid to do all of these things for others?
■ Are you a razor restorer who needs to take damaged blades and bring them back to life and shave-readiness?

Each of these types of honer profiles have different requirements for the stones they will own. Theoretically, you can survive using the "one stone" approach, but each razor does have an optimum stone set - and more importantly, a technique for using the required hones. So generally, when somebody asks what stone or how to use what stone, the question to ask them is: "What are you trying to accomplish with the stone(S)?"

Refreshing vs. Starting from Scratch:

The types of hones required depends first and foremost on the type of honing you want to do.

Hones needed for refreshing a dull blade:

If the only task you want to perform is refreshing edges that have previously been established by a Honemiester (the process is often referred to as "touching up"), you need only get a fine grit finishing stone or a barber's hone for this. Either of these hones can be used to keep your razor(s) shave-ready for years.

Hones needed for restoring razors:

If you want to set a bevel, or have many different types of razors, you will need a full set of hones.


A bevel setting stone approximately 1k

DMT's 325 600 1200, Shapton 500, 1K and 2K, Coticules with slurry, Norton 1k, Naniwa 1k, King 1k Chosera 1k

A sharpening stone approximately 4k

Norton 4K, Shapton 4K Naniwa 3k or 5k, Belgian Blue with slurry, Coticule with slurry, King 4k or 6k Tam o Shanter, Dragon's Tongue

A polishing stone approximately 8k

Norton 8k, Shapton 8k, Naniwa 8k, Yellow Coticule, Water of Ayre, Some of the Japanese Naturals

A finishing stone 10k and above (this is often subject to debate, however)

Shapton GS 16k-30k Shapton 15k Naniwa SS 10k-12k or Chosera 10k, Thuringens, Escher's, Many different natural Japanese finishers, Charlney Forest, Extra Fine Coticule, even some of the Arkansas stones...

You have several choices of how to accomplish this setup whether you use natural, man-made stone, or a Diamond-style stone, even honing films, but you are going to have to be able to cover those 4 grit ranges. There really is no true shortcut here if you expect to take razors acquired in need of restoration from butter knife dull (or damaged) to shaving sharp: You are going to end up needing these types of stones.


Pastes can be used after the hones and before the final stropping also these can be used for re-freshing the edge before going back to the hones for a touch-up... Some shavers even use pastes to "sharpen" the razor after the bevel set has been done...

A few different types

Dovo Pastes:

Green 5-8 micron
Red 3-5 micron
Black 1-3 micron
Dovo pastes are a much more mild cutter then say a diamond paste of the same micron size...

Diamond Paste:

From 3 micron down to actually .10 micron if you really wanted to...
These pastes are fast and many people use them incorrectly and manage too get a harsh edge, when used correctly and on the right razor steel these will most likely be the sharpest edge you will ever feel...

Diamond sprays:

Mostly found in 1.0 .50 and .25 micron watch the Carat content here, the higher the better (SRD has the best I have found and yes Lynn and Don are friends of mine, but heck it is still the best spray I have found)

Chromium Oxide Paste/Powder .50 micron (CrOx)
Probably the most universal of the pastes, get the most pure you can find, and no the bars at Woodcrafters are not pure...

Cerium Oxide Paste/Powder (approx).25 micron (CeOx)

Super fine, super soft, and super smooth, polishing media...The bar at Woodcrafter's is of unknown quality at this time

Other Pastes and Powders:

Iron Oxide
Aluminum Oxide

Both of these can also be used again be very careful when buying this stuff as the purity and the micron sizes are very important...

Carbon blacking/lamp black:

This might be the oldest of all the sharpening "pastes" when used on a leather strop it increases draw

Wood Ash:

Another old fashioned one very slightly abrasive when used on Linen strops and Leather strops..

White chalk:

Can be rubbed on a linen strop to increase the abrasive qualities

Newspaper:

The ink itself is a very fine abrasive and so is the paper..

Keep in mind that different razor steels like/dislike different pastes, and the different media that is used to apply it including Balsa, Linen, Leather (paddle) Leather (hanger) and Felt paddle and hanger all give different results on different razor steels....


The above are only my personal opinions and observations... There are no set rules in Razordom

The above version does not have many of the newest hones that we are just seeing either like the Welsh slates that are just now being put through the tests. Most favorable with those, some negative, but understand that there isn't any Natural stone that has all favorable comments...


Depending on what your goals are with honing determines what stones/hone you should look at...

Originally Posted by sweeneychris

Hi guys I am looking to start doing my own honing, I have been sending my razors away but came to the conclusion that I should really start doing my own.
The only problem is I have a few questions if you could help:-
1,what grits should I have? Is there a few "must have's"
Start with a known synthetic: Naniwa 3/8K or Norton 4/8K & if you need to set the bevel a 1K from either. Shaptons are awesome & pretty much all I use, but not what I personally would recommend to a person learning to hone, as they could be a bit tougher to learn.
2, is the norton stones the best out there and nothing else will do or is it personal preference? I have seen some welsh and Japanese stones for good prices.Again, please stay with synthetics to learn as your first stones. Naniwa or Norton's are on par with one another IMO.
3, would you recommend getting some razors to practice on rather my best ones? Learning to "touch-up" a razor should be step 1. Hone with electrical tape every time. I wouldn't recommend learning to hone on a custom razor, but you need to learn on a razor that has good steel in it is very important too...you don't know how to identify a bad razor right now...that will come after you have some experience with honing.

Thanks guys

I hope this helps...

MY recommendation for new honers is to have the following:

A) 1K stone, DMT1200, Naniwa 1K or Shapton glass 1K - This is for setting bevels on messed up old razors if you wanna buy EBAY junkers and practice bevel setting

B) Norton 4/8K which is pretty much the best work horse out there. You can sharpen a dull razor on 4 side and finish on the 8 side. Awesome hone.

c) A finishing stone, naniwa 10K, Coticule, etc. You can also use these as a touch up stone if that's all you need to do.

thanks guys there is some really great info here and a lot for me to look at! thanks for taking the time to reply.
gssixgun i am going to be using them to keep a good edge on my own razor and then later on look at buying razors to do up.

thanks again guys

I can but reiterate what has been said, my best set up is a DMT 8" x 3", 325grit stone for leveling, and 2 combination stones, Norton 220/1K for edge repair and bevel setting, and the 4K/8K for polishing, at that point you should get a decent shavable edge, but if you like, Crox from Hand American will refine the edge, their are others mentioned above and they are all good recomendations, but head this, the best policy when starting out with the honing bug is Keep It Simple!
By the way, nice avatar, I like it lots!!!!

Sincerely, tinkersd

Originally Posted by mainaman

[...] As far as must have obviously 1k for bevel setting , then 3 or 5k , and an 8k. You can add higher grits if you want later when you learn how to get the best out of the 8k stone. [...] Do not jump into naturals just yet, you need to learn to set bevels, then get the best out of your synthetic progression before you can get any benefit from a natural. When you decide to get a natural stone you need to do a very good research of what stones are going to work and what are not. Some naturals will refine 8k synthetic edge some will not. Buying Jnats from unknown sellers usually results in buying stone that is good for door stop only. If you want a quality Jnat get it from a reputable seller.


I'd use practice razor to learn honing.

I'm sorry, but I have to strongly disagree with you and Shooter74743, mainly on the part I highlighted in bold. I can't imagine how learning to hone on synthetics will prepare you for honing on naturals. Maybe you'll learn the proper strokes. Maybe you'll learn what a good bevel is. Maybe you'll notice after one hundred tries that you progressed from one grit to the next too early, and you cannot get a decent shaving edge.

I started with a rough, dual, standard hardware-store sharpening stone of unknown grit for getting rid of severe edge damage (which meant breadknifing, mostly) and a 4,5x10cm. coticule combination hone (yellow and blue) for bevel (re-)establishing up to finishing. I got decent results from the start. Of course I had problems as well, but I learned and improved my strokes, learned to recognise what a good bevel is and noticed after a hundred tries (poetic hyperbole) that I was diluting too fast, not using enough water, etc. I don't see how starting on synthetic hones would have shortened that learning curve.

Hell, I even managed to hone out some pretty aweful chipping on a coticule, both yellow and blue side. It took a bit longer than on my rough, unknown grit hardware-store special (not even that much longer as I expected, though) but it worked.

I think it's more about what you prefer, as in: what does your gut say. If your gut says "Synthetics are totally awesome," use synthetics. If your gut says "Naturals are totally awesome", use naturals.

Read up on naturals, read up on synthetics and make a decision based on their qualities and your gut instinct. You can mix them up as well, whatever floats your boat; the way I see it it's more about deciding what works for you than trying to find out what works for you, there are so many options that work.

Just don't start with synthetics just because "that's how everyone started and it works." It's not, I didn't start with them and that works too.