Thread: If you could only have one......

My vote would be for 2 abrasive pasted paddle strops. A 1.0 micron diamond on one and a 0.5 micron ChromeOx on the other. Keep them separate and covered. Use only when the shave starts to pull a bit.
A Barber hone is not as fine a grit and the hone needs to be prepped properly but it is a good tool to have.

Just my $.02 this early morning!,

A natural BBW/coti combo, narrow width. Ideally, Coti side would be hard.

Depends. If I actually wanted to hone razors, it would be a norton 4K/8K.
If I just wanted to maintain a razor after it was honed, I'd buy a pasted paddle strop.

For touch ups I seem to drift from pasted paddles to coticules to man-made hones. I have one old 6" x 2" coticule natural combo that seems to be like that old childhood blanket - it's something I always return to as it just seems to do the trick. I've made my own paddles and annointed them with the Theirs Issard paste, the stuff that seems to go on like bubble gum, on leather - and chromium oxide on balsa wood or leather. It seems that mileages vary by driver, so what works for one may or may not work all that swell for another, but those coticules are hard to beat and making paddles for oneself cuts the cost down.

good luck

A good Japanese natural, your only buying one hone get the best and yes it just may cost more than 100 bucks

A belgian combo hone is what I keep in my medicine chest in the bathroom to maintain sharpness. I give the blade a few licks every week on the yellow coticule side but sometimes I get lazy and it gets duller than I like so I turn the hone over and use the blue side and then the yellow side. I'm happy with the system and love the feel of the natural stone.

If I had to head for the hills and could only take one hone with me, that would be it.

Originally Posted by Bruno

Depends. If I actually wanted to hone razors, it would be a norton 4K/8K.
If I just wanted to maintain a razor after it was honed, I'd buy a pasted paddle strop.

+1, knowing what I know now after many, many hones my vote goes to the 4/8 and the SRD modular paddle.

Originally Posted by Howard

A belgian combo hone is what I keep in my medicine chest in the bathroom to maintain sharpness. I give the blade a few licks every week on the yellow coticule side but sometimes I get lazy and it gets duller than I like so I turn the hone over and use the blue side and then the yellow side. I'm happy with the system and love the feel of the natural stone.

If I had to head for the hills and could only take one hone with me, that would be it.

AHA! Vindication from the Perfect Edger. All is good.

Could be well too; I've just never figured out if we have predicate adverbs.

thanks Howard,

Originally Posted by Bruce

I've just never figured out if we have predicate adverbs.

Never tried one of those, what grit are they ?

It is almost impossible to sharpen such fine thing as straight razor with a single stone from start to shave ready but if i got it right from the OP then we are looking for a single stone to maintain the edge. Gets little easier but not too easy.
I could get on going with either coti, barber hone or c12k. Hard to say what is the best on this task. All are ok. With coti or chinese i could do more than just touch-up. Barber hone is ok with touch-up, but not much more.