Thread: Honing Virgin Needs Advice on Stones

Good advice. Which do you prefer? I was thinking about picking up a Norton combo 4/8K combo.

Still waiting...

In the meantime, I'm looking for something to use for touch-ups and have my eye on the vintage greywacke barbers hone, for £35 on Neil Miller's site...is that going to be the sort of thing that I want or am I looking in the wrong direction?

Originally Posted by Kansan

Good advice. Which do you prefer? I was thinking about picking up a Norton combo 4/8K combo.

I've had the "big three" and you can't go wrong with Norton 4/8, Naniwa 3/8, or Shapton 4/8 for a first set of hone stones.

So let me add a bit of fuel to the fire ---- When I ordered my first shave ready SR, I inquired about a honing stone. I was told that using an 8K stone would only serve to dull a truly shave ready SR, and that I should get a 12K stone as a first stone when I needed it (several months down the road assuming good stropping technique).

Originally Posted by Peter57

So let me add a bit of fuel to the fire ---- When I ordered my first shave ready SR, I inquired about a honing stone. I was told that using an 8K stone would only serve to dull a truly shave ready SR, and that I should get a 12K stone as a first stone when I needed it (several months down the road assuming good stropping technique).

Read the JaNorton thread.. http://straightrazorpalace.com/honin...on-2012-a.html

Simple fact and I rarely say the word fact in this hobby if you can't get a comfortable shave at the 8k level you don't need more Stone you need more Practice...

But to directly answer your question, any stone you can shave comfortably off of can serve as a touch up hone, Barber's Hones are probably the easiest and fastest since that is excatly what they were designed for...

Not sure if you've made up you mind yet. You can set a bevel on a Norton 4k, and it does not take that long and is not all that difficult. Glen, who has been responding to this thread, has a video where he does just that, and that is what I do. I have set the bevels on my 8 razors on the Norton 4k. Once the bevel is set, then I go through a pyramid progresson on the Norton 4/8k. Yes, one stone can do it all. I do have a Naniwa 12k, and i finish on that. Took some trial and error to learn technique, feel, pressure, but that's how you learn. All my razors are excellent and smooth shavers. Good luck! Oh, I am still learning, BTW.

So touching up a blade straight off of the Norton 8k isn't a problem?

EDIT: what I really mean is that without having to start from scratch, I can use the 8k to touch up an already sharp blade with no issues?

Originally Posted by PigHog

So touching up a blade straight off of the Norton 8k isn't a problem?

EDIT: what I really mean is that without having to start from scratch, I can use the 8k to touch up an already sharp blade with no issues?

Here is where it gets sticky

The direct answer, Yes

But it really depends on how far the razor slips before you "Touch Up" and your skill level

People today always want the easy/cheap solution, and that isn't alwasy the best path with straight razors,,, I can tell you from experience that any of the big three in the 4/8 or 3/8 ranges will do the whole job with a dash of practice..

see post #23 for the names

Originally Posted by Peter57

So let me add a bit of fuel to the fire ---- When I ordered my first shave ready SR, I inquired about a honing stone. I was told that using an 8K stone would only serve to dull a truly shave ready SR, and that I should get a 12K stone as a first stone when I needed it (several months down the road assuming good stropping technique).

The person who honed your blade probably took it to the 12k level. What he's saying is, by taking down to an 8k, you'll degrade the edge. This isn't really 100% accurate. You have take into consideration edge degradation. As you use the razor, the edge will loose some of it's keeness. Lot's of variables here to consider.

A 12k or Barber's hone may not do it for you at this point in the game. You may need that 8k. In some cases, you may need a 4k. It's best to have, at the very least, a 1k, 4k, and 8k. (See Shooter's post) We generally consider the 1k as the bevel setter, the 4k as the sharpener, and 8k and above finishers.

I agree about not jumping into finishers. You should wait until you can get a good comfortable shave off your 8k. However....Most guys don't wait and buy them anyway. If your one of those guys, A Naniwa 12k is a good way to go. I'd stay away from Naturals until you have a good handle on honing. Natural stones are a complete different animal. Some may disagree with me, but at least with synthetics, you know what your getting. YMMV.

Here's a good post from Glen: http://straightrazorpalace.com/srpwi...)_do_I_need%3F

This whole 8K thing has taken a life of it's own recently.

When I first started, The Norton 4K/8K was all I had for a couple years and I did get great shaves off that stone. Sometimes it took a ton of work though depending on the razor. The circle process has made the use of this stone much more consistent for me today. I can get about 7 out of 10 razors to hit first time through after a bevel has been set vs. almost 10 out of 10 when a finishing stone is used.

We have learned a lot about the importance of bevel setting in the process over the last few years as well and having a good 1K stone and setting the bevel properly significantly helps the success ratio when honing.

So can you get a good shave off an 8K? You bet. Do you need to get one off an 8K before going to a finishing stone? Your call. As soon as I got my first finishing stone, I was off to the races and rarely finished honing on the 8K after that.

Can you touch up a razor on an 8K. You bet. Using the pyramid, a 1-3, 1-5 will work many times which is also using the 4K. So will just 4-7 strokes on just the 8K.

The key becomes reliability and consistency. Can I get the same results off the 8K as I can with my favorite finishers or my favorite finishers followed by chromium oxide or .5 diamond. Not usually. Can be done, but depending on the razor, may take a little more tinkering.

For new guys, I normally recommend the pastes or sprays first for touch ups, followed by a finishing stone and then down the grit levels as needed. This is because I have seen more new guys have success with this vs. simply diving into honing if that is not their objective.

Nothing takes away the trial and error or the learning that it takes when it comes to honing. People do build off successes though and success comes in a variety of packages. It's tough being a new guy out there today. We have a lot of experts who hone a little, a few experts who hone a lot and a whole lot of opinions.

Have fun.