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.