Thread: Starting honing

What would you recommend as a starter hone? I have 4 blades, all of which came to me shave ready, so I just want something to practice with a cheap blade on, then refresh my current razors.

The key thing is I'm a grad student married to a teacher, I'm on an absolute shoestring budget.

What stone would you recommend, or would you recommend starting with micro abrasive films?

What's a good US source for affordable hones?

Howard @ theperfectedge.com has many of the popular hones. My favorite is the Coticule, absolutely great stone.

There are barber hones that can be cheap, maybe post a wanted add in the B/S/T forum asking for one.

I can't comment on the micro abrasives.

I like these kind of questions.

In some ways I'm probably not a good person to comment since I in no way have honed and maintained razors on a shoestring budget! I will always regard that practice as very cool, admirable and worthy of appreciation. Bringing straight razor shaving down to its economical base level that no other shaving medium can match. Very cool.

Ok, the reason I like these kinds of questions is that really, we're dealing with theory. Most times when this type of question is asked, I think the person intends on getting deeper into razorama on a gradual basis rather than literally wanting the least expensive way to shave this way (I would agree with Russel then and suggest a natural stone like a coticule or Thuringian or maybe even a Chinese 12K because you'll have those stones forever and the coticule and Thuringian you can do so much with when looking to maintain shaving edges). In theory, we're also going to assume that your shave ready razors will be well cared for and will suffer no trauma of any kind to the edges. We're going to assume they'll be stropped excellently prior to each shave.

Taking your question as literally as I possibly can, my suggestion would be....heck, try the films. I have some laying around and I would gladly spare a sheet or two. You could try 1 micron and .5 micron on a piece of glass. then you could strop on newspaper with some chromium oxide powder (I can also spare some of the chrome ox for you). The films never really excited me, but I have not resold them because maybe they will in the future. PM me for the details and you can try edge maintenance on a budget. I sell small amounts of chrome ox for $4. For $5, some chrome ox, and a few sheets of the abrasive film will equip you with some tools to use. PM me for details.

Chris L

P.S., for others, although I have plenty of chrome ox, I only have a handful of sheets of the 3M abrasive films so I don't have enough of those to outfit anyone else. I just haven't used them in a long time and figure I can let a few sheets go to one person.

Originally Posted by Chrisl

I like these kind of questions.

In some ways I'm probably not a good person to comment since I in no way have honed and maintained razors on a shoestring budget! I will always regard that practice as very cool, admirable and worthy of appreciation. Bringing straight razor shaving down to its economical base level that no other shaving medium can match. Very cool.

Ok, the reason I like these kinds of questions is that really, we're dealing with theory. Most times when this type of question is asked, I think the person intends on getting deeper into razorama on a gradual basis rather than literally wanting the least expensive way to shave this way

Thanks, you're right on! I've just gotten into straight shaving, and right now I can't afford a lot of equipment. That said, my favorite part of any hobby is the work put into it. I want to get into restoration and sharpening. At the moment I can't really afford anything. Eventually I will be able to buy one stone, then another, then another. I guess a good deal of my question is what's a good starting point (and progression of purchasing hones?)? i.e. since I currently have no other hones and my razors came to me sharp, it wouldn't do me any good to have a 1k stone (though I am certain that I would love to have one). On the other hand, I wouldn't do well to buy an incredibly fine stone that requires a great deal of maintenance, because, well, I'm learning. I will screw up with my technique (whether that be stropping or shaving, or honing) and I will need something with more "bite" at some point, and I may screw up my hone.

So my question is basically, what's a good all-around hone, at an entry level price, that one can squeak by with in the absence of a nice set of hones?

Thank you for your very kind offer. This may be a good way to get the basic technique down and to keep my blades shaving well for a while longer. I will send you a PM.

If your razors only need touch-ups the best hone to get now is a coticule or a barber hone IMHO. I hardly use barber hones but a Swaty is liked by many.Tilly may have an NOS barber hone as well. She knows her stuff.

Link: Coming Soon...

I just noticed there's a problem with the link above.

It should read: www.redtrader99.com

Get a Norton 4k/8k waterstone and branch out from there. You can put a shaving edge on most decent blades that way and it'll likely remain a centre piece for all your future honing.

X

Welcome to the SRP!

Take ChrisL up on his offer, it is a very good one. With those lapping films and a piece of leather pasted with the Chrome oxide you will be able to maintain the edge on your razors for some time.

Eventually the lapping films and chrome oxide will no longer do the job of refreshing the edge. Then you need a hone. Perhaps the least expensive best bet is a 3 line ( 3 lines of text embossed on the hone) Swaty barbers hone. It is a proven performer. It is approx 8000+ grit.
The Belgian coticule and the Thuringer/Escher type stones will also do the job but are more expensive. For a budget set up look at slip stones in the grits of 4000 and 8000. They are small, slow cutting and inexpensive. The most popular hone used here is the Norton 4000/8000 combination waterstone but the cost with shipping is approx $75.

Slipstones - Woodcraft.com
do not buy the india or arkansas slip stones!


Others will chime in with more options.

Thanks all for all the help. Chrisl's offer will give me some time to save up and do some more research (not to mention practice my technique) so I'm ready when my blades begin needing more serious work.

Originally Posted by Kees

If your razors only need touch-ups the best hone to get now is a coticule or a barber hone IMHO. I hardly use barber hones but a Swaty is liked by many.Tilly may have an NOS barber hone as well. She knows her stuff.

Link: Coming Soon...

I just noticed there's a problem with the link above.

It should read: www.redtrader99.com

Tilly's out of business for razor related items and hones and has closed down her site. The price of the hones she sold just......went........up!

Chris L

Hi, I'm pretty new to Straight razor shaving and sharpening/ honning too.
I wanted to refresh the edge of my razors (which were bought from a guy/online shop who got them shave ready) I asked him he said a Chinese 12k was the boy to JUST refresh an edge.
I didn't listen to the voice of experience, as usual and bought a Coticule, as I had fallen in love with them from the pictures and stories here.
I didn't make a mistake, they are pretty easy to use, they are pretty, they put a good edge on a razor that after good stopping will by fine for shaving with, they hold their value because they literaly have a cult following amongst razor freaks and knife makers/collectors, they can cut a bevel if you use lots of slurry and have great patience, they can be used like a barber hone dry, wet or with lather, they are easy to lap (flatten), they are pretty Oh! I've done that one!!
As you can see, I think they are quite good.............
I resharpened a couple of razors and got 3 razors from blunt to shave worthy with my SMALL coticule.
If your in the US buy it from (srp member)Howard, everyone seems to really like him and his gear.
As for the Chinese 12k, it's bigger, slightly finer, very hard to lapp and quite cheap. If you already had a Norton 4/8k combo it would probably make sense to buy a Chinese12k.
YMMV as I'm no expert.
M