Thread: How Many Hones Does A Beginner Need ?

so if I'm a beginner how many stones do I need

For now I'd say a beginner only needs one, a Swatty barber's hone for the occasional touch up. Check the SRP Classifieds before hitting eBay.

Before you get into honing, read up on hones in the Wiki here. Digest that information first. Then you'll have a pretty good idea as to what you'll be needing based on what you plan to do.

I picked up a Norton 220/1000 and use the 1000 side for setting the bevel (the 220 side is only used when a razor has fairly large chips in the edge). I have a 4K for sharpening, an 8K for polishing and a 12K Chinese hone for final finishing.
Namaste,
Morty -_-

I think as a beginner the only hone you need is a finishing hone. This can be many different types of hones. Could be a barber hone, could be a synthetic high grit hone (12k to 30k or higher), Japanese stones, coticules, or thungurians. As you get more and more confident, or want to spend more and more money, get the next hone down in the progression.

But you could go the rest of your life only needing to use the finishing hone.

I'm piggybacking, but it's related...

Could a razor go its whole life (let's say 10 years) using only a barber's hone for the occasional touch-up? Suppose the blade has been properly honed on day 1 (4k/8k etc.)... is it possible to use the barber's hone frequently to keep the blade nice and sharp, and forego any other serious honing? Or must it still be honed with a lower grit every now and then?

Just curious :-)

Originally Posted by anjp

I'm piggybacking, but it's related...

Could a razor go its whole life (let's say 10 years) using only a barber's hone for the occasional touch-up? Suppose the blade has been properly honed on day 1 (4k/8k etc.)... is it possible to use the barber's hone frequently to keep the blade nice and sharp, and forego any other serious honing? Or must it still be honed with a lower grit every now and then?

Just curious :-)

I've heard of guys who've been doing this for 20 years with only a barbers hone and strop... I can't speak from experience, though.

To the OP, that's a question that we can't answer fully without knowing what you're wanting to do... I guess the answer of what you "need", by default without any more information, is 1 (barbers hone or other finisher).

There are simply too many permutations of setups and intentions to just take a stab in the dark (if you want a meaningful answer, that is)...

I'm going to buck the trend here, & say none.
A barbers hone will do the job, but a paddle, or loom strop pasted with CrO will be easier for you to maintain an edge with.

Originally Posted by ben.mid

I'm going to buck the trend here, & say none.
A barbers hone will do the job, but a paddle, or loom strop pasted with CrO will be easier for you to maintain an edge with.

Until he rounds the edge, then you would need a more agressive hone than simply a finisher to bring the edge back. You can not get by with just a pasted strop indefinately, but you may be able to with just a barber's hone or other finisher.

Pasted strops are good, but they will not be an introduction to honing, which I can see the OP wishes to gain. IMO they delayed my into to honing as once they stopped working I had to send my razor out to be honed, whereas had I invested in a finisher I would have been able to polish my edge.

Originally Posted by anjp

Could a razor go its whole life . . . using only a barber's hone for the occasional touch-up?

The short answer is that a barber's hone will keep a razor going for as long as you find the shave it gives you acceptable. When the barber's hone no longer recovers the edge to acceptable keenness (your face will let you know), it will be time to have the razor honed again.

There are so many variables, no one can tell you how long that will be.
Namaste,
Morty -_-

Originally Posted by Morty

The short answer is that a barber's hone will keep a razor going for as long as you find the shave it gives you acceptable. When the barber's hone no longer recovers the edge to acceptable keenness (your face will let you know), it will be time to have the razor honed again.

There are so many variables, no one can tell you how long that will be.
Namaste,
Morty -_-

I guess I want a longer answer.

I am curious what the basis of your claim might be. That is, what is your experience with barber hones? Also, why do you distinguish the use of a barber hone and razor honing?

Originally Posted by Utopian

I guess I want a longer answer.

I am curious what the basis of your claim might be. That is, what is your experience with barber hones? Also, why do you distinguish the use of a barber hone and razor honing?

My personal experience with barber hones is with the Swarty I acquired to touch up the razors I purchased from the SRP Classifieds. So far, it seems to do the trick, using it as recommending by others posting about them. But as you will see from my join date, it hasn't been all that long.

Why do I distinguish the use of a barber hone from razor honing? That's possibly a mistake of semantics on my part. anjp was asking if you could keep a razor sharp "for the life of the razor" with just use of a barber's hone. I had forgotten from where I had based my opinion (I just found it). In this article in the Wiki, Lynn Abrams states "Yeah, I think barber hones still suck. They are small, flat, unpredictable, and harder to use for me. There are those of you who love them. Oh well..."

That's why I distinguish between the two. For now, touching up with 4-8 strokes on my barber's hone is all my shave ready razors need when the strop isn't enough. But when the time comes that the barber's hone won't do the trick, it's time to do something different, no?

Now, if my opinion is wrong, please tell me, it's the only way I'm going to learn.

anjp, I believe I owe you an apology. When I replied to your post, I thought I was still speaking with fish4life and I was remembering how raw I was just one month in, trying to absorb everything I was reading. I didn't mean to appear like I was talking down to you. My apologies if that is the impression I gave you.
Namaste,
Morty -_-