Thread: Vintage Hones

I cannot afford a Norton 4000/8000 at the moment and am interested in getting a quality vintage hone. What kinds of things should I look for? How should I use a vintage hone?

Do you have a razor/s you're shaving with now? Are you looking at maintaining an edge/s that are already shave ready until you decide whether or not you want to buy an actual higher grit stone?

It really depends on what condition/type of razors you're looking to hone. More info will be helpful.

Example: If you truly had a shave ready razor actually honed by someone, you could conceivably go a year on stropping that razor on newspaper; or to speed things up a bit and improve the edge over newspaper, rub a little chromium oxide on the newspaper and for as little as $4, you're good to go. No hones, no pastes.

If you want to try your hand at honing a vintage razor, I'd be suggesting things that would ultimately bring you at or over the $70 Norton mark.

Chris L

Did you mean natural stones or barber hones?

Natural stones will quickly surpass the price of the norton, while barber hones are generally very affordable (though a little more finicky to use).