Thread: When should/did you start honing?

Hey everyone, new guy here. About to get my first strop and send my newly found Adoration razor out for honing.

I want to master shaving and stropping before I invest in honing and equipment, but I was curious how long after your first razor you started honing.

Do most people just send theirs out if they own one or two? is honing just for owners of multiple razors? How often do blades need to be honed after getting them shave ready? What are the bare minimum items needed to get started?

I understand everyone is different and methods may vary, but I want to hear your experiences and find out if there is a good rule of thumb.

Two weeks into this hobby I am looking forward to meeting you all and becoming comfortable with this skill!

-John

Probably 4-6 months in was when I really did anything honewise for myself, and that was/ is just refreshing on a finishing stone. I would recommend at least having a fine stone to refresh your edge as if this is done regularly, and barring any incidents you shouldn't need to do much more.
Occasionally more will be required, and you can make a decision then regarding more equipment if you are comfortable with what you are doing with the equipment you already own.
For at least the first few times get it done by a pro, that way you will have a good idea of what you are aiming for, and by then you should be reasonable at stropping too.
Please bear in mind that I am only 7 months in and this is only advice based on my experience. Some fellers just do it all themselves from the start.

I started pretty much right away.
Didn't really want to, but I didn't know anyone up here in Norway that did it at the time
Nowadays it is my favorite part of this hobby.
Honing relaxes me when sitting down with my hones and a batch of razors to hone.
According to my wife Ispend way too much time fiddling with stones and objects to sharpen

Originally Posted by Jmchugh

Hey everyone, new guy here. About to get my first strop and send my newly found Adoration razor out for honing.

I want to master shaving and stropping before I invest in honing and equipment, but I was curious how long after your first razor you started honing.

Do most people just send theirs out if they own one or two?
I don't know what most people do here. Too many different tastes!

is honing just for owners of multiple razors?
To me, honing is for those who want to, because it's fun and it gives great satisfaction to shave with a self-honed blade.

How often do blades need to be honed after getting them shave ready?
With proper stropping, several months. It depends largely on your beard, prep and shaving technique. Expect shorter times between honing in the first months when you're developing your technique.

What are the bare minimum items needed to get started?
Razor, strop, brush, soap and a fine hone or pasted strop. You could search eBay for barber's hones, there are quite a few and they're not too expensive. Post a link here when you've found one you fancy to get advice whether or not it's a good buy. Otherwise, for keeping razors shave ready, you can't go wrong with a Naniwa Super Stone 12K. It will only do the final step in honing, but it does it well.

I understand everyone is different and methods may vary, but I want to hear your experiences and find out if there is a good rule of thumb.

Two weeks into this hobby I am looking forward to meeting you all and becoming comfortable with this skill!


-John

Good luck and enjoy!

I started out right off the bat. Maybe 2 weeks into trying a straight. I like buying and fixing, Maybe someday I will add selling to the list :<0)
If I planned on just having 2 to 7 razors I would probably just have sent them out. Grab a barbers hone. Who knows as I have already gone waaaay beyond experimenting :<0)

When my 90 year old german cutler Died (scroll down,do not know what happend)






































































































About 5 yrs ago when my old friend died,he ran a Barber shop in Palo Alto Calif for 65 yrs,Man could he hone razor,$5 a blade.
So I spent a small fortune on the best of the best hones.Took a year but I learned to hone .
I found it very boring and time consuming.
I applaud those that love to hone.I send them out to the pros,are perfect when they come back and I can get perfect shaves for at least a year out of each with a 14 blade rotation.
To me Honing was like doing a self prostate exam,let the experts do the deed JMO

It sounds like a few months might be the distance to expect between hones when using 1 blade. Would an abrasive balsa/canvas strop prolong this?

I guess I did it backwards. I shaved with a Shavette to start, with Feather blades, so I knew well what sharpness was. While doing so, I got hones, studied the process on this site, got some mentoring and was honing my own blades to shave ready within a month. What helped me was doing the requisite studying and learning first and the fact that the Feather blades in the Shavette taught me all I needed to know about sharpness.

Almost straight (excuse the pun) away

I now keep a 'honing journal'. I was curious the other day to see when I last honed a particular razor of mine. Looking at the journal I noted that for the WHOLE of 2013 I had only 8 honing sessions for the 7 razors I have. This is what occured:

1st Jan
De Pews 10 laps Shapton 16k

3rd Feb
Wade and Butcher 20 laps Norton 8k, 10 Shapton 16k
Jernbologet Frameback 10 Shapton 16k

4th Feb
J A Hellberg 40 laps Shapton 16k

31st Mar
Jernbologet 10 Shapton 16k (light slurry), 10 Shapton 16k (no slurry)

9th June
De Pews extensive honing on Norton 4/8 to create even bevel, added two more layers of tape (to give three layers) followed by extensive honing on Norton 8 and Shapton 16k

21st July
Klas Törnblom 40 Shapton 16k
De Pews 20 Shapton 16k
Burrell Top Flight 20 Shapton 16k

10th Oct
Klas Törnblom 20 Shapton 16k
Burrell Top Flight 15 Shapton 16k
Wade and Butcher 15 Shapton 16k
Joseph Elliot 15 Shapton 16k

8th Dec
Son's Emil Kronenberg Sen 'Edgerite' Pyrimid Norton 4/8 (4k x 20, 8k x 20, 4k x 19, 8k x 20, 4k x 18, 8k x 20 etc to 4k x 1, 8k x 20 then 20 Shapton 16k

15th Dec
Klas Törnblom Norton 4/8 4k x 10, 8k x 20, 4k x 9, 8 x 20, 4k x 8, 8k x 20 etc to 4k x 1, 8k x 20 then Shapton 16k x 20

Interesting, isn't it? there's not a LOT of honing going on there. One razor (the Joseph Elliot) was new to the stable and the son's razor was of course his and not mine. Looking at this, many received only a touch up on the Shapton for the entire year. I rotate the 7 razors evenly (i.e. generally, they get used once a week).

Hope this helps, sorry for the long post.

Carl

I started honing right away with just the Norton Combo 4/8k and a Barbers hone used that setup straight up until last year.....
oh, and a Smith's tri hone from Lowes to remove chips and set bevels