Thread: A little overwhelmed- Where to start for honing

OK, so first know that honing a razor is nothing like honing a tool or knife, where most knife/tool sharpening ends, razor honing begins, the edge is much more fragile.

Getting good magnification is key in razor honing. Without, it is like driving blind. You have no idea where the destination is and won’t know what is happening until you crash.

What “finishing stones” do you have? Natural stone are not recommended because, being natural, they are just that, naturally different and never at the grit they were sold as. Some may be close, most not.

Do use tape to protect the spine while learning, once mastered you can decide if you want to continue with tape or not. At least you will have a razor to hone, when you make that decision.

Click on the Library tab, upper left hand corner of the home page, and read the 3 sections in the Maintaining Straight Razors tab. That, will give you a good basis, from there ask questions in the Honing forum.
Do not buy anything else without good advice. What you already have, may or may not work… you really do not need too much to get started.

Finding a local mentor will cut you learning curve dramatically. A few weeks ago at a meet, we did a lot on hands on honing, with several new guys. A couple of them told me, “It is nothing like the videos, and I watched hours of video.” “There is so much little stuff that, you never get in the videos.”

This is Lynn's "refreshing video" : https://youtu.be/

If you are determined. Refreshing is one thing. Honing is another.

You will need 1k, 4k, 8k, 12k and a lapping plate or sand paper and a flat surface like a table saw. Lit magnification is a huge plus.

I did not know forums existed when I started. I bought a few razors on eBay with no intention of restoring them. Rust buckets that looked ok in the spine and edge. Visually I did ok. Some were pretty bad but I was picky about not paying too much, buying known brands, and staying away from broken razors jagged edges and the like. I looked very closely at hone wear on the spine. Some wear was not bad as long as it was even along the shape of it.

After removing as much rust as possibly with Polish and high grit sand paper I started setting bevels. Polishing edges. And finally getting razor edges. I just kept going back to the hones if I could not shave with them. It was quite a struggle at times. I think the $300 or so in stones I have spent is worth it. The learning curve for me honing was longer than shaving. Considering you spend 20 minutes a day learning to shave and hours a day learning honing that is saying something. Honing is frustrating but will become relaxing ang challenging.

Take your time and get some practice razors but not gold dollars. They will just make you pull your hair out

Refreshing is the first step in honing.

Originally Posted by Drygulch

Have been using a straight for a little over a month now. Have a few finishing stones (Welsh Slate), but haven't gotten a basic set of hones yet. I am a little overwhelmed with all the information on here how to hone. I recently tried touching up a razor that was getting a little tuggy. It is now unuseable. Are there any articles on just maintaining the edge from mostly shave ready? Most of what I am seeing is from setting the bevel to finish stones.

Lynn's Norton 4k/8k circles video is very useful for technique. No more than 10 minutes per stone after setting on 1k. Circles and X's through all my stones from 1k, 4k, 8k, 12k strop and shave. Works for my beard type

You are only 50 miles from Kansas City, MO where you can get honing experience in person, which is the best kind. Contact Nun2Sharp, or Modine, or HiBudGL. Any of them would be happy to help and are very capable of doing so.

Originally Posted by Euclid440

OK, so first know that honing a razor is nothing like honing a tool or knife, where most knife/tool sharpening ends, razor honing begins, the edge is much more fragile.

Getting good magnification is key in razor honing. Without, it is like driving blind. You have no idea where the destination is and won’t know what is happening until you crash.

What “finishing stones” do you have? Natural stone are not recommended because, being natural, they are just that, naturally different and never at the grit they were sold as. Some may be close, most not.

Do use tape to protect the spine while learning, once mastered you can decide if you want to continue with tape or not. At least you will have a razor to hone, when you make that decision.

Click on the Library tab, upper left hand corner of the home page, and read the 3 sections in the Maintaining Straight Razors tab. That, will give you a good basis, from there ask questions in the Honing forum.
Do not buy anything else without good advice. What you already have, may or may not work… you really do not need too much to get started.

Finding a local mentor will cut you learning curve dramatically. A few weeks ago at a meet, we did a lot on hands on honing, with several new guys. A couple of them told me, “It is nothing like the videos, and I watched hours of video.” “There is so much little stuff that, you never get in the videos.”

I have bought a few things before reseaching them enough. I bought a set of three Welsh Slate stones. Not even going to mention the grit ratings they were sold to me as, but two of them have been used at least one person on this site as finishing stones. There are three of them in progressive fineness, so I am hoping those can be used for finishing. I am hoping to be able to learn to use theses stones to maintain an edge, before I purchase any more for the next steps I am wanting to learn. I think I am going to go ahead and order the Loupe I was looking at, to see if I can get a good picture of what I did to this edge. Just looking at Lynn's video below, I am pretty sure I know what I did to it. It may need a new bevel set.

I also agree on the videos and articles vs. hands on. In one of my other hobbies, I can learn more watching a experienced person for ten minutes than hours reading and watching videos. My intent with this thread was mainly to comment on the vast amount of information avalible on this site and others. I appriciate the suggestions to narrow it down that have been offered so far.

Yes, some of those stone can be used to finish a razor, I have the set as well and have finished razors on them, though there are much better and easier alternatives, such as a 12k Super Stone.

The problem with those stones is that they are natural and my stone can be vastly different than yours and how and when you slurry will affect the performance and results. Hopefully you bought the larger stones.

It would make your life a lot easier learning on good synthetic stone, but you sound like a capable guy that should be able to get a decent edge from your stones, with patients.

I have had the best luck with the green stones, use a light slurry thin to clear water, much like using a coticule, though not comparable to a good coticule.

Coticule.be / Coticule Sharpening Academy has a lot of good information on finishing on coticules with slurry that will directly relate to what you are attempting.
Good luck.

I understand your desire to do it yourself. Most of us feel the same way.
It was suggested that you follow the chrome ox paddle strop as the first step in refreshing/maintaining the edge. A lot of us have done that and it works. When that stops working then go back one step coarser to a finishing stone then the chrome ox again. That works.

Utopian suggested you get together with the guys in KC. It is an excellent idea. They will shorten your learning curve a whole bunch. I have met those guys numerous times and they know their stuff.