Thread: Brand new to the world of honing

A barber hone could be placed in a very loose grit range (shooting from the hip here based on the the 20 or so I've owned) 5,000-8,000. Shapton labels its 30,000 grit glass stone at right around .5 micron. My point is that's a huge difference in particle size/fineness.

If your razor shaves well but starts to lose it a bit, IMO it's easier and I get faster and better results taking my razors to a .5 mic chrome ox balsa paddle for a few passes rather than take it to an 8k grit stone. I feel shaving edges that just need a little kick back up into comfortable shaving territory don't need as much work as an 8k stone for example, can give.

With that said, people do a small number of passes on a barber hone to kick up an edge and barbers had been doing that for decades and decades. Personal preference for edge feel on the face carries a ton of weight when we talk about the myriad of options available to get edges YOU like.

Chris L

I agree with Chris here but I would just add that honing is something that takes practice. Whether you are using a balsa paddle with chrom ox (a good thing) a barber hone or a waterstone you need to get the stroke down and the muscle memory. For me practicing on ebay specials first while having pro honed shavers as a benchmark was how I went about it. If and when you get the waterstones some starter razors are a good way to learn rather than experimenting with your main shavers. Once you feel confident that you won't dull your main shavers you're good to go of course.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

I agree with Chris here but I would just add that honing is something that takes practice. Whether you are using a balsa paddle with chrom ox (a good thing) a barber hone or a waterstone you need to get the stroke down and the muscle memory. For me practicing on ebay specials first while having pro honed shavers as a benchmark was how I went about it. If and when you get the waterstones some starter razors are a good way to learn rather than experimenting with your main shavers. Once you feel confident that you won't dull your main shavers you're good to go of course.

Well i have 4 razors currently so i will have one that ill be able to practice honing with. Im just not sure when ill be using it...how much water to add and whatnot. But ill figure it out...im gonna youtube some barber hone videos to see techniques