Thread: Confused by all the Honing Information

Originally Posted by Lemur

If you strop it right you should!

Thanks, now I'll see if can strop

Originally Posted by Winblows

Thanks, now I'll see if can strop

Stropping should take it back to that super edge... and the day it won't it's time for the stone/paste.
It always amaze me what some clean leather can do!

^ I await to receive a vintage horse leather strop in very good condition from UK. I'm curious.

Again, thanks for all the info I think I got an idea now of what I might be able to do

I just got one small question left.
From what I've been reading I'm probably gonna get a 12K Naniwa stone and use the unpasted fabrid side of my strop. Once that stops working I would probably go for an 8K stone (Norton 4/8 combo or Nawina 8K ).
About that is where I'm still a bit puzzled.

Once the 12K + fabric strop no longer work would you just go down a grit (8k) and when that fails go to 4/5K?
Or once 12K stops working would you instantly go to a 4/5K then 8K and then finish it again with the 12K+ strop?

It would seem logic to just go down a notch whenever the higher one begins to fail but just wondering about this final piece of information I'm missing ( for now at least )

Starting with a good close to shave ready blade, I try to remove as little metal as is necessary. All working razors will eventually lose enough metal after honing to become unusable, even if it takes a very long time. I try to postpone that day and keep my valued razor looking good and last as long as I possibly can. Try the 8K and test the edge, if the 8K stone fails to give you the expected good 8K edge, drop down to a 4K or 1 K as necessary. When you have achieved the expected good edge for the grit level you are using, work your way back up the progression. If a high grit hone does not seem to be working, it usually means that more work on the bevel is 1st needed on a lower grit hone.

HTH

Since you're lacking responses here I'll throw my .02 in.

I started with a norton 4/8 combo and an SRD premium strop for the first 8 months and had no trouble at all.

After that I added a Swaty 3 line barbers hone for touch ups and it was nice.

Then I was gifted a nice C12k from a fellow member here, I got lucky its a reliable stone and its great.

THEN I added in some crox on felt and balsa, that improved it even more.

It helped that I had several straights I could play with and always have one or two honed by pros for comparison. By starting with the 4/8 and shaving off that, it gave me a new "respect" for what the 12k or higher can offer (assuming the bevel was set proper to begin with).

Moral of the story... Some crox on balsa should keep you going for awhile. I picked up some balsa wood from the craft store and glued it to some oak then glued some felt to the other side. Cheap and works well.

Ideally a 12 or 16k is what I would pick up if you can afford it.

Originally Posted by sheajohnw

Starting with a good close to shave ready blade, I try to remove as little metal as is necessary. All working razors will eventually lose enough metal after honing to become unusable, even if it takes a very long time. I try to postpone that day and keep my valued razor looking good and last as long as I possibly can. Try the 8K and test the edge, if the 8K stone fails to give you the expected good 8K edge, drop down to a 4K or 1 K as necessary. When you have achieved the expected good edge for the grit level you are using, work your way back up the progression. If a high grit hone does not seem to be working, it usually means that more work on the bevel is 1st needed on a lower grit hone.

HTH

Just what he said! One thing I would add is that "markers" are the hardest thing to learn trough a forum. Only by doing and observing the "markers" you can learn. Eventually you be able to pick a razor, inspect the bevel, the edge for sharpness and know if it only needs stropping, finisher, 8k or more and even then the razor will teach you something new! Double O