Thread: what is your honing/stroping system and technique

Hello

I am new to shaving and am doing alot of research about sharpening razors. I have read tons about first hones finish hones...

I would like to ask everyone what they do for sharpening. Just a quick list of the order of tools and which ones ... something like this. This is not what i do just an example of what i am looking for.

1k norton
4k norton
8k norton
12k chineese

1.0 paste on paddle
.5 paste on paddle

linen
leather

lather and shave...

i am looking for some ideas about what to get for honing and for stropping with pastes and what people like best...and what works economically for me...

thanks for all your help and advice...i get such great tips from this forum...

Norton 4k/8k combination stone - I use the pyramid with this.
Honemaster barber hone (10k?) - 3-4 laps a ta time with lather after stropping.

That's what I'm using these days. I've got a Shapton 12k and a 2 sided paddle with chromium oxide 9bar) and 0.25µ Diamond paste on opposite sides which I have used in the past and may again. I also have a generic Chinese kitchen hone for heavy edge restoration which I'll turn to if I need to hone out chips or reshape the edge.

I strop with an Illinois 360 strop and use the linen side form time to time before that.

12-16 laps linen
60 laps leather

shave

12-16 laps leather before putting the razor away.

X

dmt325 for heavy edge reshaping (tape the spine!) and lapping
1200 waterstone for bevel setting (king)
3000 oil stone (conk)
8000 waterstone for polish (other side of king)
3 line swaty (12000?) for double bevel
occasionally use CrO for stropping as an alternative to the swaty when i am refreshing an edge that's still pretty good

Here's my current progression:

DMT 1200 for bevel setting
Norton 4K/8K

For the finishing stage I either go for:

- Coticule with water

or

- Shapton GS 16K
- Nakayma Maruchi

and on my TM Original strop
25 on the linen(canvas)
60 on the red latigo

I've sometimes skip the Norton in this progression and use the coticule with slurry and the dilute the slurry every 20 laps ( I've stolen this trick from Bart(?)) to finish on a plain water coticule.

Here's mine:

Shapton Glass 2k (cutting arm hair)
Norton 4k
Belgian w/ slurry
Belgian w/ water
Shapton 16k
.25 Diamond paste cloth strop 10 - 15 laps
Black Dovo paste leather strop 20 - 30 laps
TM Latigo 50 - 80 laps
TM Cowhide 20 - 30 laps

Originally Posted by erictski

I would like to ask everyone what they do for sharpening.

This works for many, and saves countless hours of frustration and hundreds and thousands of dollars in new equipment:

1. Put the razor in a box
2. Mail it to Lynn

Heres what I do:

I strop before every shave, in fact while the water is warming for my shower.

10 or so laps on the linen with ash if my last shave with this razor was less than perfect.

30-60 laps on the leather.

Then Shave.

If the shave sucks I stop and give it three laps on my Swaty lubricated with lather. This hone lives near the sink.

Resume shave.

If the shave still sucks or sucks worse (my hone is finicky) I give it another three laps on the Swaty.

Resume shave.

Repeat last step if the razor is improving but not yet perfect.

If this isn't improving the shave it is time for a real honing.

I start here if the razor isn't shaving at all.

I use the following:

1000 grit wet/dry sandpaper on glass for bevel setting or nick removal if needed.

I pyramid 5 micron film on glass with 1 micron film on glass for the bulk of the work. The number of laps is entirely up to the razor.

Then I shave

If the shave sucks....

1K, 4K, 8K, 16K, 30K Shapton then about 25 laps on the CrO paddle. If not satisfactory I do it again. After the edge becomes like I like it after a few shaves I touchup with the 16K, 30K and a few strokes on the CrO. A lifetime setup and HAD is controlled. [Maybe]I don't have all the Shaptons yet.

bj

1K Japanese King stone=only for ebay and antique shop specials
4K Norton: set bevel and make it sharp
8K Norton to polish sharp edge from 4K
12K Chinese to polish from 8K sometimes dry, with water or water and slurry
strop on .5 diamond pasted bench strop
Linen
Leather
Shave

If refreshing an edge,depending on the edge, I'll start on either the 8K or12K or just the .5 Diamond pasted strop.

Simple



Raf