Thread: Honing with sandpaper?

Hi Everyone,

Just wondering if it is possible to Hone with sandpaper (ie. are there grits of sandpaper that match grits on honing stones)?

The reason I ask is because I am fairly limited fund-wise.
I have found an old straight at an antique store here in Melbourne for $5.
The edge is chipped though, so I will need to breadknife it on coarse sandpaper to get it to a working condition.

I would love to get into straight shaving, but just wanted to check that I can get a shaveable edge using sandpaper?
Hones are sooo damn expensive

Thanking you all in advance for comments/suggestions.
Long time lurker on this forum, and I have to say, I love the sense of community you guys bring across.

Sandpaper, no.

Lapping films, yes.

However, it's not as cheap as you might think. You can't just lay them on your kitchen counter and start honing. You really need a known flat surface, either a lapped granite block sold for the purpose, or thick sheet of tempered glass. That can be spendy.

Probably the best option for learning to hone on the cheap would be the full norton set.

You can get a set on amazon.com that include the 220/1k combo stone, the 4k/8k combo stone, and a flattening stone for about $110. If you do well, you can shave right off the 8k, or follow it up with basted strops. Also, you could pick up a pasted balsa hone to follow them up with in the classifieds.

Thanks for the quick reply.

Unfortunatelly US $110 is waaay out of my budget.
As I've said I have very limited funds available to me to get into this great hobby

Does anyone know if there IS a sandpaper alternative to the 4k and 8k stones? Would the gritts be the same on the stones and on sandpaper? I dont know if it comes in 4k and 8k...may need to check bunnings

I know it is not the preffered method, but I cant find the lapping films VeeDubb recommended?
I have completely level surfaces (granite) available to me at work.

If you've got flat granite to work with, you're well on your way.

AFAIK, there is no such thing as 8000 grit sandpaper, and even if there was, it wouldn't be even and flat enough to hone on. It's just not a good option.

As far as not being able to find lapping films, a quick trip to google and a search for "lapping film" returns hundreds of thousands of results. It's not hard to find at all. Unfortunately, it's not cheap either. You'd need something in the neighborhood of 15 micron, and several grits all the way up to 1 micron or finer, and you probably will have a hard time finding places that sell single sheets, so you may be looking at half the cost of a set of hones, and a lot less support to help you get the job done.

The lapping films are slick backed and VERY uniform, so you just pour a little water on your granite, and lay the film on top of it, carefully avoiding bubbles. Once you press it and smooth it out, it will be VERY well stuck to the granite with suction. I have heard it's a popular method for honing certain types of japanese cutlery.

A much simpler option, if you're just concerned about this one razor, is simply sending it out to be honed. There are several members in your part of the world who could help, and even paying 2-way international shipping is probably cheaper and more reliable that experimenting with lapping films. There I think Utopian is still doing free honing, and I'd be happy to hone it for you as well, as long as the shipping was on your dime, although I'm not sure what the shipping would be.


Also, I completely understand about the cash. I'm in the process of trying to fix a decade of bad financial decisions, and it took me several months to save up for hones, and then to finally bite the bullet and pay for them. It's a big investment, especially if this is your first razor.

You can use 500 grit wet/dry sandpaper to remove nicks from the edge.
1000 grit to start the bevel. maybe 50 laps
2000 grit ( equal to a 4000 grit Norton) to establish/finish creating the bevel. again 50 laps
An automotive/autobody shop sould have the fine grit sandpapers. use all the sandpapers wet. They clog up less that way.
What to use in place of the Norton 8K hone is now the question.
Some people are using buffing compounds from a woodworking/jewelry supplier/store. There is Zam, Fabulustre, one that is a small yellow gold color bar whose name escapes me, etc ( do not use the red or green). For those take them and break them up into a very fine powder then mix with some oil ( mineral oil/ hand lotion, etc) and apply to a piece of wood with some leather glued to it, AKA a paddle strop. Don't use very much, maybe 2 pea sized drops of the oil/abrasive mix, and work it into the leather. Let it dry for a day then wipe off the excess with a paper towel. You may have to do quite a few laps on the paddle strop.
Test shave after each 100 laps.You do need a plain leather hanging strop and you need to use it for 30-50 laps just before each shave. A smooth belt works ok.
We do have several guy who live in australia, maybe they will post here.

This just my opinion, I hope it works for you.

For what it's worth, if you're determined to nurture a chipped razor up to shave-readiness using the cheapest available materials, know that should you succeed, you'll be hooked for life, and you may well end up spending any spare cash on hones anyway.

I'm joking, but it's true.

I think you really need to send it out, or buy a cheap razor from the classifieds. The thing is, honing a razor to a shave ready state if you have never used one is always going to be a struggle as you're dealing with so many unknown quantities. Doing that on a razor that needs to be breadknifed (in your opinion), with out the proper equipment, is pretty much an exercise in futility as far as I'm concerned.

You could always buy a shavette to practice the technique with, won't run you much and you won't have to worry about strops etc - it's not ideal but it works.

Originally Posted by northpaw

For what it's worth, if you're determined to nurture a chipped razor up to shave-readiness using the cheapest available materials, know that should you succeed, you'll be hooked for life, and you may well end up spending any spare cash on hones anyway.

I'm joking, but it's true.

hehehe. Determined may be a slight understatement. I feel I may very well have a genuine case of OCD... in everything.

I love learning new things and try to do them completely myself as often as possible. My interests are quite varied aswell.

Take for example my "latest OCD". A 500 page book, binded using the codex method, wrapped in kangaroo leather, with and embossed pheonix on the front (cut from a mouse mat )













I also redid my car interior in leather about 6 months ago. I learn mostly online and via trial and error




I think I will try randydance062449's suggestion.
I realise it may be frustrating
for you all to give me advice to the contrary, but as I stated above, I have an OCD of doing things myself, this coupled with grim determination, and enjoying the feeling of learning a new skill (+ limited funds), means it is the only option available to me at the moment

G'day & welcome maniotas1.
You seem a quite determined DIY guy. Good for you. My suggestion for your approach is after you do the 2000 grit wetndri stage you could swap over to Micromesh cushioned abrasives in say 6, 8 & 12k. That could take you to a level similar to an 8k hone. I say 'could' because I've never done it but 12k Micromesh is 2 micron. It may be best to use the Micromesh in a stropping direction too as its thicker & softer than wetndri. After that a CrO pasted paddle & a leather belt should do the trick. You'd be kinda on your own doing it this way but it may work just fine too. Let us know.

I have to say, both that book binding, and the leather for your car are far from cheap. I suspect that while $110 for the norton set is more than you can afford at the moment, you could easily afford it if you spent a little time saving up.

While it may mean setting such projects aside for a while, saving up and buying a set of proper hones, wether norton, shapton, naniwa or naturals, will undoubtedly give you better a results, and be far less likely to leave you with a useless razor that would look foolish sitting next to some of your other beautiful handiwork.