Thread: Honing Approach with These Stones

I am a newbie to honing and would like to start honing some old razors. I have the following stones (collected ad hoc and very cheaply): DMT 1200, Japanese 6,000 grit, and a new Thuringian (according to what I was told, but it is in a wooden box and has a slurry stone of similar material).

If I need to set a bevel and hone a vintage razor that is not in too bad of shape, how would I approach it with these stones? Is it possible?

Thanks for any help.

Jeff

It might be possible. You can set the bevel with the DMT and then you will need to spend a lot of time on the 6k because that is a high jump, especially off of a DMT. I've never done it, but I would guess you will need 75 to 100 strokes passes on the 6k. Then for the Thuringian, I would start with maybe 50 laps on slurry and then 25 to 50 with water.

These are my best guesses without ever having attempted such jumps.

Thanks, that will at least give me a range of how long I need to work the stones.

Do you think it would help to bridge the DMT/6000 gap by first doing circles and then the 75-100 laps?

Sure, circles would speed things up for both the 6k and the thuringian. Maybe do 50 to 75 circles on the 6k followed by 10 to 20 x-strokes. For the thuringian, try 50 circles with slurry and then 25 x-strokes with water. Hopefully other opinions will come shortly.

6k Japanese ????

Brand????

I don't know. It is white with a plastic base. The guy I got it from said it was 6000 and there was a slip of paper that confirmed. There is also a nagura that is reddish.

The main reason you will need LOTS of strokes off that DMT is that diamond (DMT's grit) set that way cuts deeply into the edge, you will need to remove ALL those scratches (hard to do off a DMT) to get a good smooth shaving edge.

Personally I would look for a better bevel setter, Shapton Glass stones at 1k work very well as do many others. Just a suggestion.

Here is the problem, you have 3 stones 2 out of the 3 are unknown quanities..
We know the DMT 1200 we know how it cuts steel.. The 6000 we have no idea nor the Thuringen...
I think Utopian has given you the best advice, you are going to have to set the bevel with the 1200, then work slowly into the other two stones and see what happens...
The whole honing experience for you is going to be an continual experiment...

Originally Posted by gssixgun

I think Utopian has given you the best advice, you are going to have to set the bevel with the 1200, then work slowly into the other two stones and see what happens...
The whole honing experience for you is going to be an continual experiment...

Yes, thanks for clarifying. I guessed at numbers but the OP might need half that number or 2 to 4 times that number. It really depends on the razor, the hones, your methodology, and phase of the moon.

Originally Posted by Utopian

Yes, thanks for clarifying. I guessed at numbers but the OP might need half that number or 2 to 4 times that number. It really depends on the razor, the hones, your methodology, and phase of the moon.

Newer learn to hone under a waning moon