Thread: Want to try Honing

Hi all, Would like to know how many shaves can you get from a Shave Ready Razor That has been properly Stropped before each shave? Also If I were to get a Honing stone which one would be a good one to start with. I have been sharpening Knives all my life and have some good stones BUT I know this is a totally different Game. Thanks for looking;

Anthony

To your first question, that depends on your shaving and stropping technique. Typically a newbie will dull a blade faster than a more experienced shaver so it varies. Touch it up when you feel the performance has dropped.

For touching up you may only need a balsa strop pasted with Crox. The next step down the honing progression would be a Zulu Gray or Naniwa 12K, for me. You should not have to go farther back the that for touching up an edge, at least that has been the case for me.

If I have to reset the bevel I start on my Naniwa 3K/8K combo hone and go up from there. A really bad chipped edge syarts off on a Naniwa 1K.

You have some choices depending on what you want to do and what hones you may already have, that are suitable, from sharpening knives .

Bob

You could try www.coticule.be for some failsafe honing methods. Using these methods might also help improve your stroke on the stone. Give it a try..................

Originally Posted by BobH

To your first question, that depends on your shaving and stropping technique. Typically a newbie will dull a blade faster than a more experienced shaver so it varies. Touch it up when you feel the performance has dropped.

For touching up you may only need a balsa strop pasted with Crox. The next step down the honing progression would be a Zulu Gray or Naniwa 12K, for me. You should not have to go farther back the that for touching up an edge, at least that has been the case for me.

If I have to reset the bevel I start on my Naniwa 3K/8K combo hone and go up from there. A really bad chipped edge syarts off on a Naniwa 1K.

You have some choices depending on what you want to do and what hones you may already have, that are suitable, from sharpening knives .

Bob

That's exactly where I am - I agree with Bob!

The farthest I've got is to paste the linen side of my strop with white / grey Dovo paste, and I've got a balsa board with CroX that works great for touch-ups.

I've gone one step further, and tried about 20 laps, with water only, on my coticule, then CroX, then linen w/ paste strop, then the leather. That took a blade from a bit of tugging and pulling to absolutely shave ready, really nice and smooth.

I've got about 12 razors, all professionally honed, so I can keep these refreshed and in the rotation for years before sending them out again (so I'm told)!

I have yet to really dig down on the use of my coticule, but now have a class set-up with a honemeister to show me the best use of the coti, and the use of the 8k-12k stones. Should be a fun day! At that point I'll decide if I want to go down that road.

But as Bob said, for now, balsa board with CroX, maybe some white / grey paste on the linen side of the strop (made a nice difference), should do you fine.

Awesome guys, Thanks so much for the input. Still a lot to learn. Think I'll hold on buying a Stone for now till I get the feel of Stropping first and then move on to what you guys said. Thanks;

Anthony-

Originally Posted by mrsell63

You could try www.coticule.be for some failsafe honing methods. Using these methods might also help improve your stroke on the stone. Give it a try..................

Or you could learn the same stuff right here on SRP...

Chosera 1k, Norton 4/8 and a balsa strop with crox will get you started and then some. A 12k maybe something to consider when you have maxed out your 8k. The 1k is the one to learn IMO as everything rests on the bevel. Its literally 90% of the hone. The rest is just polishing. Many sharpness issues are bevel related. Learn to set a bevel and really set it. Do not pass the 1k until you are 100% sure it is set. And there are many ways to tell. Learn these and you will be golden. Take a half set bevel to the 4k or higher and you will be wasting your time as you cannot polish an edge that isn't there. Sorry for the rant but this was the turning point for me when I went from not knowing whether the blade would shave to being sure of it. And it had nothing to do with the 4/8 or 12k and everything to do with the 1k. Good luck. There is lots to read here and great advice from members.

For me where you start to set a bevel depends on how bad the blade is. For me unless a blade is chippy/raggedy I will start on my 3K Naniwa not my 1K Naniwa. To sure though, what ever level you start the bevel reset at you do not go higher till you are sure it is well and truly set. You really can't polish a turd.

Neither of these lower grits are necessary if you are just maintaining an already good edge that is just starting to go dull. Once you can't maintain a shave ready edge on the higher grit hones then a complete bevel reset on one of the lower grits is necessary.

Which hone/hones you get first will depend on what you are trying to do. Personally, I like the belt and suspenders route and get all the hones at once including something to flatten the hones with. That way you got all the bases covered for whatever comes your way.

Bob

I have the whipped dog norton 1/4 set (220/1k, 4k/8k & flattener) they are really small but I have butter knifed two razers and bought them to shave. One of the razors had a small frown on it due to spine ware and was quite painfull. Having said this the hones did the job and when the balsa stops putting an edge on them I will go back to 8k to see what happens. Just remember to be patient setting the bevel, you will know when it happens, don't move down your progression until it has been set. Look up pyramiding as well as this was a great tip for me.

Odd man out,I just sold almost all my stones,Took me almost 4 yrs to learn how to get a decent edge on a Razor.
Not a Honemeister edge,but a comfortable edge.
But I hated honing because I am a perfectionist,I want the finest edge the top pros can create,nothing else will do.
The blades in my rotation only need to be honed every couple yrs at most,I just send them out a couple at a time.