Thread: Confused by all the Honing Information

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.