Thread: is there ONE hone that does it all???

Hey guys, i can’t remember on what forum I saw this, but I think I read somewhere that it was possible to do ALL your straight razor honing needs, from setting bevels, to mid-grade sharpening, to final polishing off of just ONE stone.

I lost the posting where I read this, but I’ve been curious if this was possible. Does such a stone exist? It’d be nice if it did…so I can just bring one stone with me when I travel (which is often) instead of currently brining 3 now. (I know I should hone before I travel, but traveling is just so hectic that honing deff gets back-burnered).

IMHO, the natural coticule comes as close as it gets. That and a D8E 1200 diamond plate to set bevels and lap the coticule and I think one could have all of the bases covered.

I also think the Norton 4K/8K combo gets pretty close to doing it all. The Norton and some chrom. ox. paste is really all you need.

Jordan

The Norton 4000/48000 is one of the stones I have, and I have to say, i don't think it the only stone i need. I can’t set a bevel on the 4000 side (well, I guess I could but it would take damn near forever), and I don’t like the shaves I get off the 8000 side, so it’s not a good finishing stone. it’s deff fine for what it does as an intermediate stone that briges the gap between a bevel setting stone and a finishing stone. but I deff don’t thik it’s the only stone I need.

I’ll check out htat video about honing a razor to shave ready on a coticule. I hope it’s possible to do it all on one stone. I like streamlining things as much as possible.

I would be delighted if a coticule capable of being a finishing stone could be a faster bevel-setter than a Norton 4000 - I may have to call Rob about that!

One of Bart's posts talks about setting a bevel on his coticule with slurry. If I remember correctly he said it takes a long time but it can be done. I gave it a shot on an old Solingen full hollow and I probably could have done it but after a hundred + laps I went to my 1K Shapton or my D8E, can't recall which.

Randydance told me that you can set a bevel on a 4K Norton and he knows what he is talking about. I like the Norton quite a bit and I use them for some things. Depends on the the razor and how it is progressing on whatever I am honing with. Intuitive stuff if you know what I mean.

The thing I like about the coticule, particularly the natural is that with slurry you can cut quickly and follow up polishing with water. I have used Bart's method of starting out with a fairly thick slurry and diluting it as I go until I am down to water only. This seems to work very well for me. If you have a natural the blue side is excellent for getting it sharp too.

Since you have to lap it the D8E can serve that purpose and double as a bevel setter. As OLD_SCHOOL says you wouldn't take a razor with you that needed a bevel set anyway so you could leave the heavy diamond plate home. I like having a variety of hones as much as a variety of razors. More stuff to play with.

I guess I’m sort of the opposite then, b/c I would love to have one stone that did it all instead of having a bunch of stones to tinker with.

Now, I know I shouldn’t travel with a dull blade, but sometimes b/c of my hectic schedule, I have to. And I wind up packing 3, sometimes 4 stones to boot. Not only is it heavy, but I worry about them breaking if the luggage is mishandled. I’d love to just have one hone that does it all (or nearly all). I’m not even all that worried about bevel setting, b/c once the bevel is set, it’s set and there’s no need to do it again. Besides, I have a DMT diamond hone for that that’s indestrucable anyway.

Which coticule and slurry stone is the one that does it all (or at least comes close)? Is it the yellow/blue combo? Where’s a good place to get one of those???

Originally Posted by kaiser1498

Which coticule and slurry stone is the one that does it all (or at least comes close)? Is it the yellow/blue combo? Where’s a good place to get one of those???

If you are in the USA Howard at the Perfect Edge, if you are in Europe Rob at Ardennes Coticule. You can find them in the vendor's section of the forum index. Tell them what you want to do with it and they will pick out an appropriate hone.

Originally Posted by OLD_SCHOOL

IIRC when I first joined SRP, the Norton 4k was the official bevel setter.

Learning circular strokes really helps here and it does work, though it is harder to do than normal honing.

I would explore pastes on a four sided paddle strop if I were you.

Interestingly I have a vintage loom strop that was probably designed for travel. Leather covers two sides and when I got it one of them had been pasted. The two wooden sides were coated with abrasive compounds, one red and fairly rough, the other black and quite smooth. I suspect this is exactly what you would want. However I haven't seen one in great condition, one mine the leather was rotted and the abrasive sides were cracked beyond use. Good luck in your search.

Originally Posted by jnich67

I also think the Norton 4K/8K combo gets pretty close to doing it all. The Norton and some chrom. ox. paste is really all you need.

Jordan

For several years and a couple thousand razors, all I used for everything was the Norton 4K/8K combo. Wore through several before I started experimenting. At the time, I was getting great edges using nothing but that stone. After that, I was experimenting with pastes after the Norton before I ever tried a coticule or escher.

Have fun,

Lynn