Thread: Honing help needed Pittsburgh PA

Originally Posted by Utopian

Once you learn how to do it properly, a two sided barber hone like your Frictionite is THE ONLY HONE you ever will need. Now, "want" might be another matter but the reality is that the hone you already have can provide you with a lifetime of very good shaves. That is, as long as you have a good strop too.

Any advice on how to use it? Haha


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Aloha!

Welcome. IMO, you are already a good part of the way there because you actually know what a well honed razor that is truly shave ready is supposed to feel like when applied to your beard. It's always a good idea for newer straight razor users to have a blade or two professionally honed so they have a benchmark as to what a bade is supposed to feel like when it is properly sharpened.

I personally like my barber hone, but it's not a "do-all" stone for me. I do need my 1k (for bevel setting) 4/8k and 12k superstone. Once I properly hone a blade, then I can in fact keep it up to snuff with my barber hone and strop, but a blade that comes to me truly dull, I need my regular stone progression to hone it, not just a barber hone and strop.

Lots of great vids by Lynn Abrams here at SRP on Youtube about honing, and GSSIXGUN from SRP also has many good videos on honing he has poted to Youtube. Here is one about using a barber hone you may find interesting.



Enjoy the journey!

-Zip

Originally Posted by ZipZop

Aloha!

Welcome. IMO, you are already a good part of the way there because you actually know what a well honed razor that is truly shave ready is supposed to feel like when applied to your beard. It's always a good idea for newer straight razor users to have a blade or two professionally honed so they have a benchmark as to what a bade is supposed to feel like when it is properly sharpened.

I personally like my barber hone, but it's not a "do-all" stone for me. I do need my 1k (for bevel setting) 4/8k and 12k superstone. Once I properly hone a blade, then I can in fact keep it up to snuff with my barber hone and strop, but a blade that comes to me truly dull, I need my regular stone progression to hone it, not just a barber hone and strop.

Lots of great vids by Lynn Abrams here at SRP on Youtube about honing, and GSSIXGUN from SRP also has many good videos on honing he has poted to Youtube. Here is one about using a barber hone you may find interesting.



Enjoy the journey!

-Zip

Thank you for the video. I think I have the motion down. However, I feel like I do that and do that and it never gets sharp enough. Even after stropping afterwards. Also, he did it without electric tape on the spine. Does it hinder its sharpening? If I don't use it, how do I avoid sharpening the spine. Thank you


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Originally Posted by Trubino10

Thank you for the video. I think I have the motion down. However, I feel like I do that and do that and it never gets sharp enough. Even after stropping afterwards. Also, he did it without electric tape on the spine. Does it hinder its sharpening? If I don't use it, how do I avoid sharpening the spine. Thank you


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Aloha!

Shooting from the hip here (so to speak) it sounds like you have a bevel set issue. If you don't set a proper bevel on a blade, then you can hone till the cows come home with a finishing stone and still not get a razor's edge worthy of a sharp comfortable shave.

I personally can't set a bevel on a barber hone. From memory, your hone is approx 10k on the finish side, and I do not know the flip side grit. But 10k is meant for finishing not bevel setting. If your bevel is not set, you can't finish the edge to razor sharpness.

Tape VS no-tape is split down the middle. Some guys tape all the time. Some guys never tape. I never tape on a barber hone because my philosophy is the barber hone is for touching up and finishing not for honing or bevel setting. When I get a blade I need to run through the stones progressively from bevel set to finish, I always tape so the spine does not wear excessively. When you get to finishing stones, there should be no pressure at all, just the weight of the blade. You'd have to literally hone up a storm to wear that spine on a finishing hone even with no tape if you are properly honing.

My 2 1/2 cents worth. Other guys who are truly honemeisters will have different opinions.

-Zip

Originally Posted by ZipZop

Aloha!

Shooting from the hip here (so to speak) it sounds like you have a bevel set issue. If you don't set a proper bevel on a blade, then you can hone till the cows come home with a finishing stone and still not get a razor's edge worthy of a sharp comfortable shave.

I personally can't set a bevel on a barber hone. From memory, your hone is approx 10k on the finish side, and I do not know the flip side grit. But 10k is meant for finishing not bevel setting. If your bevel is not set, you can't finish the edge to razor sharpness.

Tape VS no-tape is split down the middle. Some guys tape all the time. Some guys never tape. I never tape on a barber hone because my philosophy is the barber hone is for touching up and finishing not for honing or bevel setting. When I get a blade I need to run through the stones progressively from bevel set to finish, I always tape so the spine does not wear excessively. When you get to finishing stones, there should be no pressure at all, just the weight of the blade. You'd have to literally hone up a storm to wear that spine on a finishing hone even with no tape if you are properly honing.

My 2 1/2 cents worth. Other guys who are truly honemeisters will have different opinions.

-Zip

Can you recommend me a good hone for bevel setting?


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Originally Posted by Trubino10

Can you recommend me a good hone for bevel setting?


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General consensus is 1k - 2k for bevel setting with most of the guys (me included) going with a 1k for bevel set.
But you can set a bevel up to about a 4k stone. We know this because many guys have the popular Norton 4k/8k combo stone. They start with the 4k, then the 8k then progress to a true finishing stone. But you can stop at 8k if you wish. It's just not as smooth as a 12k. Setting a bevel with a 1k just makes it go faster than with a 4k.

IMO, you will also need a magnifier (jewelers loop) to look at your edge as you are honing to make sure all is well. I have a 40x magnifier I got from Amazon. But we may be getting way ahead of ourselves here. We are not even sure that the bevel set is your problem. It SOUNDS like it is to me, but without seeing your edge, I am shooting darts at a board. Have you investigated our Library here? Lots of great info you really do need to know. I personally watched videos and read documents on honing for about 2 weeks before I put blade to stone.

So back to your mentor. You really would benefit from having someone close to you look at what you have, and what you are doing. If you were in Hawaii, I'd be glad to help!

-Zip

Originally Posted by ZipZop

General consensus is 1k - 2k for bevel setting with most of the guys (me included) going with a 1k for bevel set.
But you can set a bevel up to about a 4k stone. We know this because many guys have the popular Norton 4k/8k combo stone. They start with the 4k, then the 8k then progress to a true finishing stone. But you can stop at 8k if you wish. It's just not as smooth as a 12k. Setting a bevel with a 1k just makes it go faster than with a 4k.

IMO, you will also need a magnifier (jewelers loop) to look at your edge as you are honing to make sure all is well. I have a 40x magnifier I got from Amazon. But we may be getting way ahead of ourselves here. We are not even sure that the bevel set is your problem. It SOUNDS like it is to me, but without seeing your edge, I am shooting darts at a board. Have you investigated our Library here? Lots of great info you really do need to know. I personally watched videos and read documents on honing for about 2 weeks before I put blade to stone.

So back to your mentor. You really would benefit from having someone close to you look at what you have, and what you are doing. If you were in Hawaii, I'd be glad to help!

-Zip

I appreciate your help. If I were to get a 1k, do I progress straight to the barber hone? Or do I need something lower.


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Originally Posted by ZipZop

General consensus is 1k - 2k for bevel setting with most of the guys (me included) going with a 1k for bevel set.
But you can set a bevel up to about a 4k stone. We know this because many guys have the popular Norton 4k/8k combo stone. They start with the 4k, then the 8k then progress to a true finishing stone. But you can stop at 8k if you wish. It's just not as smooth as a 12k. Setting a bevel with a 1k just makes it go faster than with a 4k.

IMO, you will also need a magnifier (jewelers loop) to look at your edge as you are honing to make sure all is well. I have a 40x magnifier I got from Amazon. But we may be getting way ahead of ourselves here. We are not even sure that the bevel set is your problem. It SOUNDS like it is to me, but without seeing your edge, I am shooting darts at a board. Have you investigated our Library here? Lots of great info you really do need to know. I personally watched videos and read documents on honing for about 2 weeks before I put blade to stone.

So back to your mentor. You really would benefit from having someone close to you look at what you have, and what you are doing. If you were in Hawaii, I'd be glad to help!

-Zip

Thoughts? Premium Knife Sharpening Stone Double-Sided 1000/6000 Grit for Sharpening & Honing — Whetstone Ideal to Sharpen Chefs Knife & Kitchen Knife — Anti-slip Bamboo Base & Angle Guider Free Bonus https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06ZYGQFS3..._zBkQzbFXVBQTC

Originally Posted by Trubino10

Thoughts? Premium Knife Sharpening Stone Double-Sided 1000/6000 Grit for Sharpening & Honing — Whetstone Ideal to Sharpen Chefs Knife & Kitchen Knife — Anti-slip Bamboo Base & Angle Guider Free Bonus https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06ZYGQFS3..._zBkQzbFXVBQTC

Aloha!

You are going to get a lot of opinions on stones here. Some guys would not do a Chinese synthetic from Amazon. I personally have no problem with them and have honed about 10 razors from bevel set to finish on Amazon Chinese Synth stones. Keep in mind that these stones are not 3" wide so you will have to adopt angular or circular or x-stroke patterns to hone on them, just like with your barber hone. But I also have a Norton 4k/8k and a 12k Naniwa Superstone for fine finishing.

1k to 6k is a big jump but I've done it with success. Apart from my Norton 4k/8k I have a 1k/3k stone and a 2k/6k. I also have a 10k Chinese Synthetic. Then I have the Naniwa 12k Superstone. My Barber hone is a 12k Jnat. So that's my whole arsenal of stones.
I've done 1k-4k-8k-12k(superstone). I've also done 2k-6k-10k-12k(barberhone). About the same results.

You are going to need a lapping stone as well. You can't just order whetshones and expect them to be totally flat from the factory. Ordering a bare essential lapping stone like the Norton Flattening Stone ; https://www.sharpeningsupplies.com/N...IaAgreEALw_wcB
is essential and will at least get you started. You need to lap frequently and properly (see the videos!) to keep your stones perfectly flat for proper honing. Lots of videos on lapping on youtube. Look for them from Lynn Abrams and GeoFatboy just to name a few.

-Zip

For beginners, I would recommend the Naniwa Super stones. They can be purchased as a kit, with the proper hones. Like 1000,5000,8000, and12000.

Look online ..Imperial shave Medina Ohio. That's our SRP store. Look under " sharpening center" in the menu. Its a lot cheaper than buying them individually. Again...you'll need a lapping stone, and a holder for the hones.
Definitely learn as much as possible, before you try honing.

Its not something easily learned over night.

Its also a bit of an initial investment, buying hones. But if your serious about it, they are a must have, thing.

I also recommend a 40X loupe, as well.

Much to be learned, young Jedi.! Only long hours and training, will strengthen the force you so desire.