Thread: My hone: is it suited for straight razors?

It seems that your stone is indeed unsuitable for honing.

But barber hones can be found for reasonable prices. And if you have spare strops, you could get some pastes for finishing the edge.

Originally Posted by heavydutysg135

FWIW you can't figure out the grit of a stone by looking at a picture of the surface.

Ok... I thought that the close-up picture might help, but it's a silly thing to assume such a thing. Thanks for the notice, heavydutysg135.

But now I'm confused! Some of you say it's not adequate, some of you say it is... where do I stand in this wole thing? I'm a newbie and I don't have any reference of what an adequate stone looks or feels like... do you think that, needing to touch up my razor I should use this hone or not? Really... I'm a bit confused right now. If you will, help me shed some light on this mater...

Thanks again!

oops... I'm no longer confused, guys... I miss read Russel's last post.
Nothing else on this hone, then, right? Maybe I can use it for kitchen knives?

Any of you know where I can find a reasonable priced barber hone? Or a lapped norton combo 4K8K or a coticule? It seems that they are good choices.

Sorry for the last post. Thanks again

Antique stores and flea markets can turn up some very inexpensive and fine old barber hones. Ebay is another choice (often more expensive than the former two). Most barber hones will need to be lapped. DMT D8C recommended at around 35 dollars, also useful for all your knives.

One honing solution that will never need to be lapped is a DMT D8EE 8,000 mesh and 0.5 chrome oxide on leather or balsa.

I, myself, prefer the barber hones for touch up and finishing. Finding out what you like the best is the fun part (sometimes).

Originally Posted by fpessanha

Thanks for the replies, guys.

The stone I have is grey... light grey. I don't know if that makes it a "grey" stone, bu I'll post some pictures and, if you would be so kind as to look at them, maybe you can help me out a little more.
Thanks again.

Sounds like a translucent Arkansas; they vary quite a bit in color; I've heard from a light grey to white to almost really transllucent (but no, you can't really see throught it)

I think I'm one of the few folk here who swear by Arkansas oil stones; I've been using nothing but for 35-40 years and can't bring myself to switch. I use a translucent (Norton 8x3") for my 2 straights. It gets them pretty dam sharp and fine. I personally like that they are slower than water stones; makes it a little harder to screw up by going too fast, but yes it is, as another poster says, s---l---o---w.

I've read in some places that a translucent Arkansas is pretty much the equivalent of about a 10 to 12,000 waterstone; and in other places that it is only about the equivalent of an 8,000 waterstone; who knows? What I do know is that my razors get shaving sharp, little to no drag or irritation.

Which should you use? Damned if I know, but you are getting excellent advice here from many members. Decide on how much you can afford for a stone, then go shopping at the recommended sites.

Yeah, I know, that's not a lot of help;=)