Thread: Confused by all the Honing Information

Hey everybody,

I'm new to SR shaving and even still need to perform my first shave (when my new brush arrives )

However, I've been reading up on all the aspects of SR shaving and even tho it might not be needed for the next couple of months ( I got a shave-ready SR from SRD ), I would like to get to get all the info about it already figured out.

From all the information I've gathered it is beginning to confuse the hell out of me.

Could somebody explain what exactly I would need if I just want to maintain my razor and do touchup's after x amount of time when stropping no longer does the trick?
From what I can gather I would need a stone that is at least 8k or even preferably higher.

Do I need any of the lower stones or are those just if u really want to restore or set the edge the first time?
This is the main thing that confuses me... what stone do u need?

Hope somebody can clear this up for me. I've read the wiki and a bunch of articles but I just get more confused

Greetings,
Dirk

the cheap and simple way is to just use crox on balsa wood or spare strop, not main one

are a norton 4/8 combo

or/and nani 12k

dont need to go any lower just for touch-ups

Lynn Abrams has a great video that should help answer your question if you haven't seen it yet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28_o...e_gdata_player

What did they use in the old days? A good Swaty barber hone would be a good place to start learning to touch-up. If you are planning on wanting to learn to hone, then I would recommend Naniwa 12K or Shapton GS 16K. Any of these will help you to maintain your razor for quite a while.

It pleases me that you are planning on learning to maintain a razor, thank you.

Originally Posted by dirkr

Hey everybody,

I'm new to SR shaving and even still need to perform my first shave (when my new brush arrives )

However, I've been reading up on all the aspects of SR shaving and even tho it might not be needed for the next couple of months ( I got a shave-ready SR from SRD ), I would like to get to get all the info about it already figured out.

From all the information I've gathered it is beginning to confuse the hell out of me.

Could somebody explain what exactly I would need if I just want to maintain my razor and do touchup's after x amount of time when stropping no longer does the trick?
From what I can gather I would need a stone that is at least 8k or even preferably higher.

Do I need any of the lower stones or are those just if u really want to restore or set the edge the first time?
This is the main thing that confuses me... what stone do u need?

Hope somebody can clear this up for me. I've read the wiki and a bunch of articles but I just get more confused

Greetings,
Dirk

Forget the stones and techniques for a while. The most important is your purse and patience.

Just as others have said, you can use a balsa strop with Crox or a finishing hone to touch up the edge. My finisher of choice lately has been a Zulu Grey but a Naniwa 12K works too for me.

Bob

I get the feeling, to much information is no information!
As said start off with any pasted stop of choice and then keep an eye out for a nice hone.
If you go for a well known synthetic people here can always help you when you run into problems.
I've heard they pave their streets with Coticules in Belgium, I've also heard they make beer from chocolate, that last part can't be true...

Well, as every one else said, all you need is a finisher for an end user. If you haven't already read it, there is an article in the wiki titled "what strops, hones, or paste do I need". It is a very helpful article.You really only need like a 1k if you need to do some serious work on the bevel. I suggest for now though just use a pasted strop. It will keep you going for a long time before you need to take it back to the hones. Make sure you don't over do it though it can be to much of a bad thing according to some. Just make sure you get good quality pastes/sprays and you should be good to go. I am sure you have no doubt read that paste can cause a convex bevel or a wired edge. Well Glen did an experiment several years back and I don't remember which thread it was or I would have linked it. But basically he wanted to see what would happen if he pasted a razor once a week even though it didn't need it and well he quit out of boredom because nothing negative was happening to the razor. Pasted strops are just a much cheaper option and will keep it shaving sharp for a long time and then once you feel comfortable in your technique in both shaving and stropping I would say go ahead and buy a hone and use this time that you have now to research the hones and see which one you one because trust me you will be changing your mind a lot about what you want and trying to make that fit into what you need.

A barbers hone as Shooter said is your best bet.

Hi Dirk,

Lots of reading is good, it'll help more than you think. And you've received some great advice above.

Just in case you missed this one which compiles it all into one place, for the most part, here's a link.

What hone(s), paste(s), or spray(s) do I need? - Straight Razor Place Wiki



Regards,

Howard