Thread: Honing Heresy

Way to go Trewornan..
K.I.S.S. principle rules !

[quote=JCitron;325844]I think it's insane for you to not invest at least a hundred dollars into your hones. Tsk tsk tsk......

Barber hones can come in differing grits, it sounds like the one you have is fine enough to give you a comfortable shave.

quote]

Can someone please explain how to tell the grit of a barber hone. Can it be done with a glass? Is feel accurate? I know that the barber hones were made in many different grits. Did the barber buy a particular grit stone or did he use what ever he had at the time. I have read that in the old days many of the barber hones had the manufacturers name on the stone. Perhaps they were given to the barbers as a promo? Did the barber care what grit he was given, if that in fact was the case?

There is a very large jump from maintaining a shave ready razor to getting a razor shave ready. Often that distinction is not made and the assumption is what you need to prepare any razor short of a major restoration.

Whatever strop will very slowly lose ground to the wear and tear of daily shaving. Every month or few a finish honing will restore the razor completely. Nothing more is needed. If you sustain any damage or unusual wear then there is a significant jump in the equipment needed.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

+1 from me too, we both have been saying this for a long time....

If you are only a shaver, you only need to maintain the edge, that's it.... and what the heck for the price of one pack of Fusion's you can have the razor honed professionally anytime you want or need....

Good luck with keeping all the AD's at bay that's what does you in

++1 on that too. Keeping a good edge is one thing, chasing the perfect edge is another entirely.

Yeah, I bought a Norton 8k, and a barber hone and got great results for several months... And then I bought another, and another, and then a coticule, and then a Nakayama and then etc.

Originally Posted by nun2sharp

If youve got a good barber hone and only wish to maintain a razor and not restore or repair this is the way to go.

+2. A barber hone is all you/I need to maintain a sharpened edge (I use newspaper sometimes, too).

But playing with ebay specials and antique store acquisitions is hard to resist sometimes...
(I'm lapping up some barber hones on a D8XX as I post this)

I sometimes wish I was content with just one finishing/touch-up hone....But I'd always be left wondering: "could it be any better?" So that's how my love for stones began....Now have a couple of coticules, a vintage thurigian (and another on it's way RIGHT now) and going to pick up a chinese 12k just for kicks!

It's true, all you need is a barber hone...but what's the fun in only owning one hone???? (HAD ALERT!!)

I've been operating this way for about three years now.

Originally Posted by dac

I've been operating this way for about three years now.

All I can say is that you must have a lot of will power.....

Thanks guys. I really wasn't expecting so much agreement. It's nice to know I'm not completely out there and under some sort of misapprehension about how sharp my razor needs to be.

@ mkevenson

I don't know of any sure fire way to tell the grit of the barber hones. For the most part the most talked about names provide great edges but even that's not a sure thing. I've seen people talk about Swaty's that were a bit rough.

It really comes down to using the stone and shaving, if you like the edge then you've got a good stone.

Also, just to complicate things, some stones have different grits on each side.

The best way is to get one from the classifieds here, that way you're getting it from someone who can vouch for how fine it is. On the other hand if you see one going for cheap on the Bay it usually doesn't hurt to snag it and hope it's fine enough, worst case you have a stone you can use on a razor that requires a touch more work than a fine stone can give it.