Thread: One stone theory

I bought my first razor a little while ago. Its still doin fine, but i know im gunna need a hone sometime. I only plan on buying "shave ready" razors from honemeisters. ive ready lots of articles (one of them written by our fearless leader Lynn) that said if i plan to not restore razors all i have to get is a finishing stone. Do i need a 8k 10k or 12k? or higher? Norton or Naiwa? Couticle? I wanted a swaty but i DO NOT mess with ebay and all ive found everywhere else is beaten up stones. Any suggestions?

All I have is a barber hone and an Escher. Those are both pretty high up there grit wise. (think 10-12K+)

If your razor has already been honed by a professional then a barber hone is all you'll need for the most part to maintain your edge.

If you don't like ebay look in the SRP classifieds. As to which brand or type that's up to you. Couticles have more of a learning curve(used different) than a synthetic Norton or Naiwa. Read up on them first.

I have a small barber hone, and it has done the trick the few times I have used it. I just follow it with a few strokes on a CO pasted strop and everything goes well.

You could start with a barber hone. OTOH, a Norton 4/8 or a Belgian coticule with a slurry stone.... natural yellow/bbw even better, is also a good option. Just IME.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

You could start with a barber hone. OTOH, a Norton 4/8 or a Belgian coticule with a slurry stone.... natural yellow/bbw even better, is also a good option. Just IME.

I second the coticule!

Any finisher should do the trick. A barber hone will do it, but the well known ones tend to be pricy and the lesser known ones can be a mystery. Coti will do it, but they are naturals so you can't be sure just how fine it will be (I also prefer edges sharper than my coti can go). Coti + chrome ox may do nicely (I don't play with pastes much) Escher/Thuri will do, but they tend to be expensive.

Personally, my main finisher was a C12k for quite some time. I found the edges to be better shavers than my coti produced, and it is a very inexpensive stone ($20 for the smaller one, which I still bench stone sized, and no shipping if there is a woodcraft near you). The downside is that they are slow - 100 laps is the number that is thrown around on the forum.

Originally Posted by Zee

I bought my first razor a little while ago. Its still doin fine, but i know im gunna need a hone sometime. I only plan on buying "shave ready" razors from honemeisters. ive ready lots of articles (one of them written by our fearless leader Lynn) that said if i plan to not restore razors all i have to get is a finishing stone. Do i need a 8k 10k or 12k? or higher? Norton or Naiwa? Couticle? I wanted a swaty but i DO NOT mess with ebay and all ive found everywhere else is beaten up stones. Any suggestions?

Get a good barber hone, nothing else needed and no where near as pricey as the others. Lynn has a video somewhere around here that goes into plenty of detail as to what brands are good.

Shapton 16K

I have a few stones...but if I had to survive on 1 it would be a coticule. It's really versatile. For a couple extra bucks you can grab a barber hone too. You could easily maintain your stable with that combo.

A yellow green Escher with original box and end label in German .... maybe $300 to $500 is the only way to go.