Desert island sharpening tools...
...OK, you're on a desert island and can have only a maximum of 3 straight razor sharpening tools (you can make it less if you want, but a maximum of only three is allowed). What would your tools of choice be?
My point in this exercise is to try and "distill" down to what experienced straight razor users feel are the MOST important straight razor sharpening tools to have. There is a dizzying array of stones, hones, and strops available for use and it's very confusing for beginners like myself to determine what we REALLY need to produce a good sharp shaving edge.
My armamentarium includes a Norton 4000/8000 wetstone/hone, a TI paddle strop with .50 and 1.0 diamond pastes (so far I've only needed the .50 paste), and an Illinois Razor Strops Russian leather hanging strop.
My routine has been, after each shave; 30-50 round trips on the TI paddle strop with .50 paste, and 30-50 round trips on the hanging strop before and after shaving. The razor (TI Blond Horn Silversteel) seems to be getting sharper after each use and there will likely come a point where the paddle strop and paste will no longer be required between each shave. I may even be at that point already. It's just that I've had such a good result with this method so far, I hate to give it up. It easily passes the hanging hair test before each shave. It leaves the hair on my arm in piles and it shaves just fine. So I'm pretty sure it's sharp. But I'm not sure just how long this routine will suffice before honing will be necessary.
Which brings me back to my original question...what would be your desert island straight razor sharpening setup? Remember, a maximum of only 3 (or less) sharpening tools. :thinking:
Tom