Weighing the Prices

Ok, I'm still pretty new at this straight razor shaving stuff, but I am addicted, and already suffer from RAD. I have a total of 12 razors so far that I'm working on removing the rust and stains from, and will probably end up rescaling a few. None are shave ready, and a few are truly dull. Should I end up buying some stones and such, or try and find someone who will hone in bulk? Which will end up being cheaper? What's the minimum cost to set myself up with all the necessary stones to create a bevel and make a few of these shave ready? Do most members charge the same for a touch up hone compared to a butter knife hone?

Sounds to me like you might want to get all the stuff you need to hone on your own. (That rhymed!)

If you've gotten a dozen blades already, then it might be cheaper in the long run to learn how to do this stuff on your own.

Bare minimum would be the Norton 4k/8k for
about $65.00. If you're going to be
restoring razors you'll probably want to go
with something coarser to start, otherwise
you could be honing for quite a while on
the 4k side. You could move further and get a
Chinese 12k for about $30.00 from Woodcraft.com
or get a yellow coticule for up around $175.00.
A lot of people, including myself, use the Chinese 12k
with great results. I'm going to be buying a
DMT 1200 from Howard at www.theperfectedge.com
in the not to distant future. Basically I'll have
invested about $150.00 in stones and am happy with
what I have.

Most people hone for $15-$20. I don't know if they
cut a deal for bulk. You would have to check that
out with them. I would get one honed from one of
the pros so you have something to compare yours to.
Hope this helps.

John

I would get at least one honed by somebody that knows what they are doing. I wasted a lot of enjoyable shaves experimenting with honing, not to mention spoiling a few reasonable razors.

Kerryman has it down pretty well. If you think you will be shaving with a straight from now on you need to get into the honing hobby. The Norton 4000 x 8000 plus the Chinese 12K are very good choices. With ebay specials and antique store blades you need one more to set the bevel at the start and as Kerryman suggested the DMT 1200 will do that very well. You already have 12 blades and will probably get more so get the hones. Later on you might want to look at paddle strops and diamond pastes which are excellent in getting a blade shave ready and maintaining sharpness between honings.

bj

+1, to everyone replying, especially to get one honed by a pro.

Please do not ask anyone to provide a cut rate to hone 12 razors. That is completely off-base. Once you learn to hone for yourself you'll understand just how bad that thought is.

Thanks a ton for all the great advice! I've already sent off a blade or so for honing, and have another arriving Shave Ready from an SRP member. My apologies to the various honemiesters I may have offended by inquiring about bulk honing deals.