Thread: Inexpensive/creative honing?

Originally Posted by gcbryan

I'm wondering if any of you have managed to get an ebay straight shave ready without all of the usual expensive hones?

For the five years before I found SRP, I honed my razors with nothing but a Swaty and a Carborundum 102. I didn't know what I was doing but because I had a stereomicroscope I could see what I was doing to the edges, so eventually I figured out what I needed to do to make (relatively) decent shaving edges. After finding SRP I learned a lot more about honing and acquired a lot more hones. Because I have a scientific background I chose to maintain a control group, so I kept a set of 7 razors that I continued to maintain with nothing but those two hones.

Now, it's been 15 years that those 7 razors have been maintained with barber hones. They still shave just fine. In fact, they shave a lot better now than they did back then. Neither the hones nor the razors changed, but my ability to use them did. As I learned more about how to use my other hones, I learned more about how to use those barber hones.

Here is an example...
It used to take me several hours to get a razor to shave when honing it on a Swaty. I never considered that I could use heavy pressure and so it took me a very long time to set the bevel back when I did not know what that even meant. Now, with an average un-chipped razor, I can set a bevel on a Swaty in about 10 minutes and can have it shave ready a minute later. The point is, I finally learned how to make the best (as far as I know for now) use of the two first hones I ever used.

So, finally, here is the answer to your question...
Yes, you CAN manage to make a typical "ebay straight shave ready without all of the usual expensive hones." It requires a decent hone but more importantly, it takes the right experience and practice. It's more difficult to do it with just one hone, but it can be done. I have well over 400 hones, but all I really need are the first two hones that I ever bought.

You can buy yourself a decent barber hone, or a coticule, or a Naniwa Specialty 12k, or one of several other options, and with enough practice that can be all that you need.