Thread: DE Hone on a Straight?

This might be a dumb question but...

Some time back I bought something called a Milton 2-Way razor blade sharpener ("it hones and it strops in one Action"!) from an antique dealer.

It's clearly made for double-edge blades (the top has a V cut into it). But it's all one material (it looks like stone of some sort) and the back is flat.

I was wondering: if a stone is OK to use on DE blades, is there any reason it wouldn't be OK to use on a straight (I'd lap the back first, of course)?

If it helps I can post pictures of the stone, but not until after the weekend.

Cheers.

James.

I cant see why you couldn't.

Originally Posted by JMS

I cant see why you couldn't.

Agreed. Out of curiosity, does the material look like black glass? Or maybe a brown type of material?

Originally Posted by Howard Newell

Agreed. Out of curiosity, does the material look like black glass? Or maybe a brown type of material?

Well, it's kind of black, but not glossy like glass. More like black slate in colour. Definitely not brown. It's clearly not been used for some time - it might gloss up a bit after a lapping, but I doubt it will get to a "glassy" look. It's not real big either - about 10cm long by 4cm wide by 1.5cm thick. I think I'll still post a pic of it on Monday for anyone interested.

Thanks guys - I'll lap it and try it out on one of my more world-weary blades and report back.

James.

Most of those DE sharpeners were either made of glass or some very fine ceramic material. They were made specifically for the DE which is after all a razor blade, very thin and a different material than a straight. I would not recommend using it on a straight. If you have a junky Eboy special and you want to experiment with it, fine but don't use a good working straight on it.

Maybe I am just being overly pessimistic but I just don’t see this working out well for you

Give it a try. The Newell isn't made for razor hones but you might learn something. Go easy in case it starts to mess up your blade. My guess is it won't do much for a straight but you never know. I always recommend CAREFUL experimentation. Remember to look at the blade under magnification before you try it and then every few strokes. That's the only way to tell you're doing something before you've done something very hard to recover from. Don't experiment with your brand new razor would be my advice.

Originally Posted by Jimbo

...If it helps I can post pictures of the stone...

Please do!

Before or after the weekend, just whenever