Thread: Hone Help Needed

I have several razors, one which was my grandfathers which I would like to add to my rotation. All are free of nicks, just seem to have been sitting for awhile, and have lost their edge. I have a 1,4 and 8k Norton as well as a barbers hone. Could any body suggest how many strokes per each stone would be "normal"? I realize this will vary from razor to razor, but I don't want to be over doing it or by the same token, just scratching the surface.

i don't think anyone can say how many strokes in which stone you will need.number of strokes depends not just pressure you put,steel,previous condition of the blade and etc,etc,

can you do the job stones which you have answer is definitely yes.
You will need to buy microscope and check after every stone use.you see what are you doing and that will help more then any of ours advise.
Basically you will need to know
you start with 4 k to set up bevel
8k to sharpen
and chr02 for final polish


Barber hones will help a lot to keep shave ready edge a good condition.
Some people will say you need combo corticle ,some will escher ,japan final stones
etc depends on you.for final edge lastly strop see tony for it
i hope i was helpfull

Have you lapped your hones yet? What kind of barber hone?

Here's some more references:
SRP faq index http://straightrazorpalace.com/basic...faq-index.html

http://straightrazorpalace.com/video...eo-series.html

JoshEarl's lapping guide http://straightrazorpalace.com/basic...ing-101-a.html

Read up on spine taping here at SRP. It will keep your blades protected as you figure out how much metal removal is actually needed. IMHO it gives you a huge margin of error against too many strokes and many other mistakes damaging to your razors. Other than that, I am afraid I am one of those “till it’s right” guys.

To start you out may I suggest you look at the Honing pyramids in the Wiki (I think it is located there now).

If there is still a cutting edge on the razors then use a conservative pyramid first, then test shave. Repeat if necessary.

If the edge's are dull then use an aggressive pyramid, test shave and then go to the conservative pyramid if necessary.

As Randy sugesstet, give the honing pyramids a try, link to the pyramids are here.

Call me lazy but have you tried stropping before going to hones

I guess if 'sitting a while' means years or several months with no oil on them they may be rusty & will need honing.

They only need one lap on 8K, repeateded endlessly until they are sharp.

I'd try that first, then move to a pyramid.

Adding tape isn't a bad idea either. You could do a lot of damage before you learn how to hone.

Currently have a Raven barber hone, and have lapped. Thanks for the tips, I'll be wrapin up the spine, that sounds like a great idea to save some wear and tear, and be working through the pyramid. I'll let yall know how it turns out, I've got 4 Bokers that I want to get to first. Thanks again for all the help

On thing I might add, is that if you have an eye loupe or a microscope it helps to have that to check out your edges before you start and as you are progressing. A lot of guys use the hand held microscopes available at Radio Shack or on ebay. Pay particular attention to setting your bevel. That is the foundation of a shave ready edge.