Originally Posted by
Kees
OK for personal preferences: I have a bunch of naturals and 2 synthetics: Shapton 1.5 and 5K. I use these for bad edges on ebay specials. After the 5K I just take a hone that I fancy for the specific razor in my hands. Lately I have developed a funny routine of 1st going to my large Hohenzollern that allows me to go straight up and down without doing an X-pattern. After that I take my razor to a norrower yellow green Escher for X-patterns. IMHO (H for humble) smiling blades benefit from narrower hones. For touch-ups I do the same: first the wide Hohenzollern than the narrow yellow green. Why? Because, again IMHO, using narrow hones only for touch ups increases the smileyness of a blade.