Thread: using a "razor stone" and powered strop for honing

Hi, I'm new here but have been shaving with a straight razor for about 35 years now. I've been reading some of the honing threads, and just wanted to share a method that's worked really well for me - it may be a little less fussy than what some folks use.

I do hand-tool woodworking and wood carving, so sharpening is a subject near and dear to my heart (my test for sharpness on my plane irons, chisels and gouges is to dry shave hairs off my arm - not the most scientific test, but lots of fun...)

I use an "Imperial Russia" strop that hangs on a hook next to the sink before each shave, but for the touch-ups (maybe once a month or so), I use a "razor stone" followed by a powered leather stropping wheel charged with ""yellowstone" strop compound (my first carving teacher recommended it, and I've used it for years - great stuff).

The razor stones I have are those composite stones they used to sell - some are champion, and are dark greenish-brown, another is a cream-colored stone that was my grandfather's - I think he may have brought it with him from Italy back in the 1930s. I got the champions at a flea market a number of years ago. These stones are also great to put a final polish on chisels and carving tools. Here's a pic of the champion stone:



Note - this isn't one of my stones - I just found this image on the web. Mine aren't chipped.

The powered strop is something I made myself - a powered sharpening station for carving, based on "The Burke System". It lives right behind me when I'm working at my carving bench. Here's a pic:



(Note - this one is a picture of mine, taken in my shop.)

The part that I use for razors is the large leather-covered wheel on the left, and the buffing wheel on the right. The whole honing process takes about two minutes - about a minute on the stone (with a honing oil that I mix with equal parts mineral oil and lamp oil), and then about a minute on the leather wheel, followed by a quick de-burring on the buffing wheel.

There isn't as much mystique to this as collecting the finest waterstones, etc. But it's incredibly effective. My razors range from one that belonged to my grandfather (it's been sharpened so many times, it's probably lost at least 1/4" of it's width), and a couple that I bought probably 20 - 30 years ago. They're very sharp. The hairs pretty much just surrender and jump off my face when they see the razor coming.

Hope this helps.