3k - 8k stones

Howdy

My first post and already I need help.

Ive just started with straight razors and am the proud owner of a 6/8 thiers issard sabatier Spartacus square edge that I'm too scared to use just yet. What I have used is a all stainless dovo 5/8 round tip. I didn't like the scales on it so I made some of my own out of red stabilised box elder which is finished with a high gloss and mirror polished.
It is however due for a hone andI have BeEn honing it with a 3 and 8k naniwa stones, it is however not quite sharp as my absolutely lethal thiers issard and that's what I'm aiming for.

I am considering getting a 5 and 10k hone and possibly a 12k to finish the edge with.

My honing skills are ok and it being a stainless blades is naturally more of a pain to hone but do you think I need to invest in more blocks to get the edge I'm looking for? All input greatly appreciated .
Cheers

Stew.

Please forgive my bad grammar, i wrote this on iPhone and typing was so laggy! However i just realised there is a mobile version of this site - which I'm now using.

Cheers
Stew.

Buy a norton 4/8 stone (its all you need for now) and a beater razor.
Send your dovo and beater out for professional honing.
When beater becomes dull, touch it up with the norton, using the dovo for reference.
Any other route may cause you years of grief, a bunch of nonsense honing posts and perhaps a bad elbow/shoulder from stroking it.

Good luck and welcome to the forum!

Eric.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by epd

Buy a norton 4/8 stone (its all you need for now) and a beater razor.
Send your dovo and beater out for professional honing.
When beater becomes dull, touch it up with the norton, using the dovo for reference.
Any other route may cause you years of grief, a bunch of nonsense honing posts and perhaps a bad elbow/shoulder from stroking it.

Good luck and welcome to the forum!

Eric.

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Umm. If I read his post he already has a 3k and and 8k stone.

To the OP. Honing takes a alot of practice, as I am beginning to understand. In all honesty send your shaving razors to a professional honer, then go get yourself some inexpensive razors and use them to practice on. This way if you frown your blades or ruin the spine you havent lost a nice shaving razor. The appeal of doing it yourself is great in this hobby but if you have nice shaving razors why risk them.

This thread
http://straightrazorpalace.com/honin...on-2012-a.html

Although about the Norton 4/8 will also work for the Naniwa 3/8 you just might have to adjust the lap counts up or down a few...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Scookum

Umm. If I read his post he already has a 3k and and 8k stone.

To the OP. Honing takes a alot of practice, as I am beginning to understand. In all honesty send your shaving razors to a professional honer, then go get yourself some inexpensive razors and use them to practice on. This way if you frown your blades or ruin the spine you havent lost a nice shaving razor. The appeal of doing it yourself is great in this hobby but if you have nice shaving razors why risk them.

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Opps, misread that. Sorry OP! ;)

to the op you have all you need. you have to learn to shave off a 8k before moving on the higher grit hones . do you know what stone your ti was finished on ?

Also - when you get there - there us really no need for the Naniwa 5k between the 3 and 8. LOTS of people use a 3-8 progression with no trouble.
Also, of the 8k and 10k - you only need one or the other. Both is overkill.
If you really like hones or have already gotten RAD - disregard the above... Buy the stones mentioned and also get a 400, a 1k (you could also get the 600 and 800 choseras to bridge that gap) and a 2k. ;)

As mentioned above, until you're getting great shaves off the 8k, adding more stones is moot.

Thanks for info guys, much appreciated. I will be sending expensive razors away for honing as like someone said why risk damaging a good razor. I will continue to practice my honing skills on my cheaper dovo.

Eleblu05 - you said learn to shave with an 8k finish before moving on to higher grits; can you explain why please? Are you saying that a finer grit finish will make it sharper and more prone to nicks and cuts? I was always under the impression that you are more likely to cut ones self with a blunt (or not as sharp) razor.

Sorry if I'm being thick - I'm still learning!

So far I have been able to reset the bevel on a 'dinked' edge with the 3k and produce a shave able finish on the 8k with 100 or so strokes on the strop.

As far as hanging hair tests go I need to see my barber and get some hairs from his shop floor to use during the test as my own hair is so thin and fine the tests are 'inconclusive'!

My biggest problem is actually shaving with a straight, on my first attempt I was quite confident and did actually give myself a shave (albeit with about 20 tiny nicks and cuts!), but I seem to have got much less confident - to the point that images of slashing my face really bad pop into my head when I go to sleep - which I promptly block out of my mind. I hope this is normal in the beginning!

Hbc, Hope you don't mind me shortening your use name for ease of typing?

What everyone is telling you is that if you are not producing a shave comfortable edge at the 8k level. which is generally where you should, moving to a higher grit, less cutting power stone, is basically fruitless. I think there is a general mind set for the new honer that higher grit stones are going to create sharper blades by much high degrees of sharpness over the previous stone. That's just not true. They do add some sharpness, but each step up in grit has a diminishing return for adding sharpness. If the complete sharpening process is an endeavor of 100%, about 90% occurs at the 1k bevel setting stage. If you only get 50% at the bevel set, its not realisitic to think that you will go to a less aggressive higher grit stone and make up that difference (without some major time and strokes). From bevel set at 90% on the 1k the percentages become less with each additional stone. That's why honemeisters will generally tell someone, like me, because I asked this question, "how much do I gain when going from a 16k Shapton to the 30k Shapton?". Answer, maybe 1%. You should be able to shave comfortably at the 8k level. After the 8k level you're playing with maybe 3,4 or 5% or less for sharpness and the rest is polishing the bevel and edge for comfort. If I'm off on my estimate of percentages, I know some of the pro honers will help me on this.

Work to improve your technique shaving, and you'll be amazed at how much that sharpens your razor. Bad angles and prep for a shave can make even the sharpest razor feel and shave like a pocketknife.

Don't get discouraged, we all went through this and to some degree, still do. Hang in there!! You have so many variables to deal with at the beginning that they're kind of hard to manage. Start with a pro honed edge, work on shaving technique and preparation. If your razor gets dull, send it to one of our members for a honing, it's cheaper than damaging a nice razor, and when your shaving is working, then take on something new. Trying everything at once is discouraging and usually, just not fun!!

Best Regards,

Howard

Howard, thank you for a great reply, it must have taken a while to type that out and again it's much appreciated.
In the quest for the perfect edge my initial thoughts are that with so many honing and sharpening products available it has made a relatively simple process of blade sharpening a complicated task. From various grits and types of honing block to lapping and sharpening pastes it really does just boil down to a moderatly sized sharpening system where a bevel setter (1,2or 3k) and a finisher (8,10,12k) a decent strop and a bit of skill and technique is all that is required for a barbers edge for 99% of us mere mortal folk.
The remaining one percent of folk using other specialised products are the honemiesters seeking a super shiny mirror like perfect finish that justifies a chargeable service.
I shall practice and let you know how I get on.
Thank you all kindly once again.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Handlebarscovax

The remaining one percent of folk using other specialised products are the honemiesters seeking a super shiny mirror like perfect finish that justifies a chargeable service.

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Unless I overlooked something, yes on most of your reply, but on the above, no!! You'll find most of us that are into honing are hobbyists. We chase the perfect edge because we enjoy the challenge and even the acquisition of understanding that come with that. The honemeisters are just that because they have devoted years to sharpening and teaching to gain that status. Thousands of razors have passed over their stones. Most offer their services for sharpening because there is a need, as you've discovered. For what they have invested in stones, time, and various other ancillary items, 15 or $20 to sharpen a razor isn't exactly putting them in a higher tax bracket. Plus, all the time they put into this forum is donated time and all their responses and help on the forum are because they actually care. No, They do not use, or do what they do to justify a chargeable service. At least not on this forum.

Very Respectfully,

Howard

Edit: Hbc, please accept my apology for my rudeness on not thanking you for your thanks in your post. Thank You!!