Thread: Beginners Hone

I know this has been posted alot, but wanted to get another opinion

I was planning on getting a 4k/8k Norton, but someone told me i should hop for a blue and yellow coticule. The person recommending said that it was much better than the Norton, but i found it to be a little more expensive. What is the view of our members here. I have never honed in my life, but i need to get started.

I would say go with the norton 4/8k its easier to learn on and when you get into trouble there are more guys here who have mastered it to help you out.

The Norton is the standard for razor honing. That is what you should start out with. Once you master it you can move on to anything else you want to use.

Thats what i figured

So it looks like im gonna get the 4k/8k and a flattening stone.

Do you recommend i get that slurry starting stone? If not, how do you really start the slurry....just using it?

No, I'm pretty sure you don't need the slurry stone. Whenever I use my dad's Japanese waterstones, they generate slurry within a couple of strokes, and I'm guessing the Norton's are pretty similar.

don't bother with the slurry stone when using a norton. The norton on it's own won't make a slurry, but they don't need a slurry to work

I think that it's true that most SRP members have or have started on a Norton and you are likely to get lots of advice on using it - including Lynn's pyramid method, which was developed by him specifically for the hone. So it is the standard for SRP. Moreover - there is little variation between individual hones - at least less than compared to natural stones.

However, I wouldn't call the Norton "standard" for razors in the same sense as say Coticules or Eschers - which were used by the most demanding old time barbers.

At least for Coticules - there are a number of members who would be able to help you (but without the benefit of having honed 7K razors on them, as Lynn has on the Norton). FWIW - Lynn used to finish on a Coticule, and now has switched to an Escher (after the Norton). It's not necessarily "either-or" - can be both

Whichever way you go - you're in for some fun times

Cheers
Ivo

I'm very much a newbie. After getting my TI blade sharpened by Lynn I apparently messed it up while stropping. I bought the norton 4k/8k stone, watched Lynn's video and thought it would be a piece of cake.

I can tell you I got really frustrated. Fortunately this forum exists. Josh informed me that I was doing everything right and he advised me to keep trying. He was right in that I can get a decent edge at this point but not THE EDGE. As a beginner I find that I have to proceed very slowly using the stone and make much shorter strokes than Lynn does otherwise I don't keep the blade flat to the stone.

I get the impression that with my present skill level (almost none) that adding a yellow coticule to the routine may allow me to get just a little finer edge.

In any event my point is that if you are going to start honing be prepared for a pretty steep learning curve.

Good luck,
Rich

It depends on your definition of “best.” Different setups have different advantages.

I think the Norton 4/8K is a good value. For a reasonable price, you get a hone that can give you good shaving edges and, with some patience and practice, restore eBay razors. It’s man-made, so there’s more consistency from hone to hone. (I did have to send my first Norton back, though. The 8K side had something embedded in it. Norton was great to work with and shipped a replacement quickly.)

Browse through the archives, though, and you’ll find posts from newbies struggling with overhoned edges. The Norton is a fast cutter, making it easier to get a wire edge. It’s easy when you’re starting to overshoot “shave-ready” and end up with a slightly damaged edge. This is a vicious cycle until you learn to judge where you are in the honing process.

My old barber manual recommends that students learn with a slow hone, like a yellow coticule or a slow barber hone. Several guys now have started out learning to hone with a DMT 1200-grit diamond hone, Belgian blue and yellow coticule progression. The diamond hone is a fast cutter, so it removes the oxidized metal and gives you a fresh edge to work on. The Belgians are slow cutters that gently polish the edge to shaving sharp.

The guys who started this way seemed to have a shorter learning curve than is typical with the Norton. (It took me several months to get decent edges consistently.) I’m waiting to see if this is typical before drawing any conclusions, but it makes sense to me.

Just my biased opinion.

Josh