Thread: Col Conk Razor Stone - To buy or not to buy, that is the ?

Originally Posted by C.Sampson

What is the general opinion about said item?
No products found

I am about to purchase a brush, strop, shaving soap, etc. and this seemed like it might be a good purchase to tide me over for a while until I make the jump to a Norton 4k/8k. Is this a poor decision or would this be a good investment?
The concept of buying a Norton and the requisite lapping stone seems like a gratuitous investment at this point in time, as I am just getting into the hobby and starting off with the best of the best of everything seems a bit frivolous. So long as this Col Conk stone will allow me to put a shave sharp edge on my razor it seems that this would be the way to go for the time being.

Please let me know what you all think. Any comments, suggestions, and opinions are appreciated.

All the best,
Cameron

I bought one, and would not recomend it. Send your razor out, buy a prehoned razor ect, but it does not make any sense to buy poor quality hones. If you are going to buy hones buy good ones, it will be cheaper in the long run.

If you want cheap, buying a vintage barber hone on ebay and sending the razor out for major honing might be a good way to start.

Great advice PT! If the bevel on a razor is properly set, you can go a long time (some say indefintely) before needing to send it out again if you touch up on a very high grit finishing stone. A coticule is also a good bet for use as a finisher. At first, I used a pasted paddle strop with CrOx on it. This refresh seemed to last a little less longer than the coticule I use now to refresh. YMMV as always.

Good Luck!

-rob

Originally Posted by PonderingTurtle

I bought one, and would not recomend it. Send your razor out, buy a prehoned razor ect, but it does not make any sense to buy poor quality hones. If you are going to buy hones buy good ones, it will be cheaper in the long run.

If you want cheap, buying a vintage barber hone on ebay and sending the razor out for major honing might be a good way to start.

I ended up purchasing a straight from Max-s and he has kindly offered me a free re-hone if/when the blade needs to be rebeveled. Based in the responses so far it seems like the next purchase I make should either be acquiring a 12k Chinese stone or make myself a balsa-paddle and impregnate it with Cro-Ox. As I understand it both would accomplish roughly the same goal - maintaining a shave sharp edge by providing just a little more texture than a linen/leather strop but still being much finer than an 8k stone. Comments/suggestions?

Thanks,
C

I've heard the conk hone is good for lapping and smoothing other hones, but that's it..

Cameron,

cro-ox is 0.5 micron if you get the right kind. Chris L sells the powder cro-ox sample pack for $4.00 (classifieds). That's fine to use as a final sweep on your balsa paddle or strop but it will not be enough when you have used your straight after a short period of time. You need to eventually invest in a 3 and 1 micron stone or paste. There's choices enough around the 3 micron. DMT, coticule, shapton, spyderco and many more. Depending your budget you have plenty of choices. But like a few have already said better save, spend a tad more and buy the correct sharpening stone. It will last you forever and will get the job done.

Max

It is a fine stone, although you will need to lap it quite a bit to make it flat.

It is NOT a finishing hone. Under a microscope, it appears to be 2500 grit or so, there is not way you will get a shave ready edge from it.

I use mine as one link in my honing chain, but it's one of the lower links. It's not a bad stone, it's just a badly labeled stone.

Originally Posted by jockeys

It is a fine stone, although you will need to lap it quite a bit to make it flat.

It is NOT a finishing hone. Under a microscope, it appears to be 2500 grit or so, there is not way you will get a shave ready edge from it.

I use mine as one link in my honing chain, but it's one of the lower links. It's not a bad stone, it's just a badly labeled stone.

I used one and then transfered to a swatty. It worked, but not real well.