Hello Guys,

I have been using straight razors for two decades now. I developed a love/hate relationship with 'em. I love the shave, I hate the honing.
I have been using an extra fine Arkansas oilstone (novaculite i.e. razor stone) but it takes me ages to get a sharp edge. I learnt the hard way to use it with water rather than honing oil. Honing oil seems to clog it up and makes it extremely slippery and unuseable. Who can advise me re. what stone to buy? I have seen Norton 4k/8k advertised, Belgian coticule and Belgian blue stone (costing a fortune), barber hones (really cheap but are they any good?), Japanese stones, diamond stones and so on.
I am getting confused. Can anyone of you guys discuss the pros and cons of the various stones? I envy those of you who say they can sharpen a razor with 10-20 strokes on their stones.

Before every shave I use a paddle strop that I paste with green Puma paste with chrome (No. 3 extrafein).

The razors I mainly use are one that belonged to my grandfather made by Roemer in Utrecht (The Netherlands) and a Zwilling Friodur razor.

My e-mail address is: c.rietsema@planet.nl