Thread: Newbie Honer

Originally Posted by roughkype

You really should keep a pro-honed edge around as a reference; use it just once a month and put it away stropped and oiled until you take it out next month for a reminder how good this can feel.

Eeeexcellent advice!

I keep my holy grail around, not to shave with, but to touch and and feel the edge, to compare with my honing through the loupe and to check she ain't gettin' rusty.

That seems to me to be *alot* of scratches for having come of a 12K. BUT, that is under 230x magnification. Me, I use a 30x loupe... sometimes.

I also agree on getting a stone in the 8K range. Something newbie friendly, like a Naniwa 8K or, better yet, cut the King 6K out all together and get a Naniwa 3/8K combo. Super easy stones and their repute is well respected throughout the community.

Also, I would find another razor other than a GD to measure my progress. This has been helpful for me to reference while shopping: Brands of Straight Razors to Avoid - Straight Razor Place Library

Happy honing!

@Carl,

Well.... I have had some very interesting feedback and video from Glen on this. At some point in the recent past, Glen and Lynn thought it would be interesting to expound more on the "One stone hone" technique. Actually, two stones. One slurry and one for honing.

The information was particularly useful for me in my situation. My first stone purchase was a Naniwa 12K for maintenance. To expand the versatility of the 12K, it was suggested I buy a slurry stone(it's far less expensive than more hones). For a few of my razors, I was able to develop enough cutting power to revive one or two edges that I wasn't able to without the slurry.

Of course, then came the onset of HAD and I haven't really touched the slurry stone since.

Originally Posted by Siguy

...@Carl,

Well.... I have had some very interesting feedback and video from Glen on this. At some point in the recent past, Glen and Lynn thought it would be interesting to expound more on the "One stone hone" technique. Actually, two stones. One slurry and one for honing.

The information was particularly useful for me in my situation. My first stone purchase was a Naniwa 12K for maintenance. To expand the versatility of the 12K, it was suggested I buy a slurry stone(it's far less expensive than more hones). For a few of my razors, I was able to develop enough cutting power to revive one or two edges that I wasn't able to without the slurry.

Of course, then came the onset of HAD and I haven't really touched the slurry stone since...

Oh right, did you finish with a slurry though or use it sort of as you'd use a courser hone?...

Originally Posted by carlmaloschneider

Oh right, did you finish with a slurry though or use it sort of as you'd use a courser hone?...

Sorry if I wasn't clear, Carl. I used the slurry on the 12K to achieve more cutting power than the 12K has a right to, then I finished with water. I lapped between. I'm not sure I had to, but I wanted a clean slate

Originally Posted by Siguy

Sorry if I wasn't clear, Carl. I used the slurry on the 12K to achieve more cutting power than the 12K has a right to, then I finished with water. I lapped between. I'm not sure I had to, but I wanted a clean slate

Sounds like a good plan. I think MrAsh needs more than 10 laps after using a slurry...

How are you determining that the bevel is set?

Are you stropping before shaving?

On what?

Usually for novice shavers, stropping is the most common creator of mangled edges.

It would appear from your photos that you are not spending enough time on each progression of stone, more importantly if the bevel is not set, everything after is a waste of time.