Thread: Only One Stone

Well my interpretation is actually not that he is a newbie shaver and want to be able to do touchups byhimself for maintenance.

"I am not ready to start honing yet, I still need to get the shaving down but if I were, where would I start? "

My interpretaion is actually, if one is ready to start honing, where do they start and which stone is most important? Honing for me is not touchups, touchups are maintenance.

So I repeat:

You start with setting a proper bevel, if this is not done all other stones are useless. So start with buying a bevel setting stone and start to practice bevel setting.
This is usually a 1K grit stone and if you search you will find threads with recommendations and comparisons.


Obviously the bevel setting stone can not be used for touchups

OK. I understand your logic now, but in my opinion the first step of learning honing should be learning how to do touchups, rather than bevel setting. I think a beginner should start on the easier end of the spectrum rather than the hardest.

Of course bevel setting is the most critical part of honing, but that does not mean that a beginner needs to start there.

Originally Posted by Frameback

Well my interpretation is actually not that he is a newbie shaver and want to be able to do touchups byhimself for maintenance.

"I am not ready to start honing yet, I still need to get the shaving down but if I were, where would I start? "

My interpretaion is actually, if one is ready to start honing, where do they start and which stone is most important? Honing for me is not touchups, touchups are maintenance.

So I repeat:

You start with setting a proper bevel, if this is not done all other stones are useless. So start with buying a bevel setting stone and start to practice bevel setting.
This is usually a 1K grit stone and if you search you will find threads with recommendations and comparisons.


Obviously the bevel setting stone can not be used for touchups

Touchups may not be honing for you,,

But,,,,,,

Touchups are the first critical steps in honing,,, maintaining is honing also.

When I taught Judo, my 1st day students would always ask, "Teach me a throw!" My response was always, "I'll teach you to survive a fall first."

If he starts with the hardest of spectrums and can master it properly, everything else will be easy

Originally Posted by Frameback

If he starts with the hardest of spectrums and can master it properly, everything else will be easy

Agreed, but the point of honing is to allow proper shaving. The shaving should be the priority. I think most beginners should not start with honing but instead should try shaving first in order to see if they have any interest in, or aptitude for, straight shaving. They don't need hones to learn how to shave if they start with a sharp razor. With that sharp razor they can be shaving and eventually will need to touch up that razor. For that reason, if they decide to continue with the straight, then they will need a way to touch up their razor. If they stick with that razor, or a few others, that previously had been properly honed, then all he will ever need is that maintenance hone.

Now if someone decides that they want to go full bore and do all of their own honing, then they eventually will need more than one hone and they certainly will benefit from having a bevel setter. In my opinion, a good bevel setter probably should be the second hone purchased, but not the first.

I think the horse is sufficiently dead now, so I will stop beating it.

Think I'll beat up my razor so I can finally get my bevel set again

Originally Posted by Frameback

If he starts with the hardest of spectrums and can master it properly, everything else will be easy

Never in my 54 years have I ever heard of success in an art/skill that followed this approach.

Originally Posted by Hirlau

Never in my 54 years have I ever heard of success in an art/skill that followed this approach.

Yes that logic doesn't make sense to me either. You crawled before you walked.

Lots of old guys on here eh Hirlau..

I started with running before walking, I am joking

Thanks for the nice discussion, we are all different and that is what is great about people

Originally Posted by Jimbo

This might be a bit old school, I'm not sure. But you could do a whole lot worse than a Norton 4/8K combination stone if you are planning on only having one stone for a while.

James.

I definitely agree, I had that stone and set a bevel on it (takes patience), and the 8000 can get you a good shave. I now have the full set but that stone was a good solution for about a year or more.