Thread: Getting there

The pictures are not as important as the shave test, in fact there is not much that is as important as the shave test.

Originally Posted by RezDog

The pictures are not as important as the shave test, in fact there is not much that is as important as the shave test.

It passed the shave test

Just an update on this. I used the wedge for the 2nd time today. Much shave than the last one which was good! I think I may be partial to wedges now. ill have to get another one shave ready and find out for certain

Maybe Im getting cocky at 100 shaves in but I'm wondering if I should consider honing my own razors. I've watched the you tube videos and it doesn't look all that complicated. Am I being naive? Amazon is selling A Norton Waterstone Kit which includes with a 4000/8000 grit stone and an SIC flattening stone for $149. Think I should take the plunge?

Originally Posted by alschepis

Maybe Im getting cocky at 100 shaves in but I'm wondering if I should consider honing my own razors. I've watched the you tube videos and it doesn't look all that complicated. Am I being naive? Amazon is selling A Norton Waterstone Kit which includes with a 4000/8000 grit stone and an SIC flattening stone for $149. Think I should take the plunge?

If you are happy with your shave results at this point then why not try honing out. When you watch videos of people that know what they are doing honing that makes honing look deceptively easy. Like shaving with a straight razor it takes time to get your technique down right. Be prepared to frustrated along the way. Best bet in learning to hone would getting some one on one tutoring from a member that is nearby. Attending one of the meet ups would also be helpful. Can't comment on the Norton hone as I do not use it but I am sure others that do will chime in. Search the honing forum for more info.

Bob

Honing like Straight shaving definetly takes time to learn. You need patience and determination to get it right. I have gotten some amazing shaves from some of my honing sessions but sometimes I need to go back to the stones. Thats is happening less and less often as I get better at honing and understanding what a good edge is while honing.
Dont know what you have for razors but dont try to hone them all at once. Chances are you will just make them all less shave ready to begin with. Pick one or 2 and keep working at them til you get it right

Dont use Norton so I cant comment on them either

I use Norton 4000/8000 combination stone, but you will likely want something after 8000 to really polish the edge. I think you could get away with chromium oxide paste on a balsa strop or fabric as you start out.

Personally, I now use a coticule or a JNat or a Vermio to finish and treat the Nortons as pre-finishers, even though you can shave off the 8000 if you know what you are doing. I still use the chromium oxide and diamond spray to maintain the edge between honing sessions. If you do that and have a reasonable rotation of razors, you probably won’t need to hone very often.

I use a DMT 1000 diamond plates as a truing stone as I do not have the flattening stone and I raise slurry on the 4000 side of the Norton using a DMT card.

Hope this helps.

Originally Posted by alschepis

Maybe Im getting cocky at 100 shaves in but I'm wondering if I should consider honing my own razors. I've watched the you tube videos and it doesn't look all that complicated. Am I being naive? Amazon is selling A Norton Waterstone Kit which includes with a 4000/8000 grit stone and an SIC flattening stone for $149. Think I should take the plunge?

I don't use Nortons, but in any case you can skip the SiC flattening stone. There is a Naniwa 3k and 8k on the BST right now for a very good price. I second the recommendation of getting to a meet or a mentor of some type if you can. An hour with someone who knows what they are doing will save days or weeks.

I have to say once my 8K was dialed in, my edges were just fine. The improvement from my 8K to any of the hone a accumulated, is not a dramatic improvement. In fact, I don’t use some of my higher grit hones because although they are sharper than the 8K they are not nearly as comfortable. Trying to figure out what edge you like the best is very expensive, unless you go to a meet or two. They are the fastest and most fun way to learn honing, and there is typically a ton of gear there to try.