Thread: I need how many hones?!?!

Hello All,

I'm new to this straight razor game and I'm interested in honing my own razors. i currently have a 1000 grit stone and a norton 4/8. My understanding is that I need one more hone around 12k. Can someone confirm that is the case?

Also, my razor has a factory "shave ready" edge. I'm going to get it professionally honed but I was just curious as to what hone you would start on regarding sharpening a factory shave ready razor!


Thanks,
Stultsy

If you want another hone, then yes, a 12k would be in the right range. Alternatively you could get a barber hone or a pasted strop.
How you would start to hone the razor would depend on whose factory it left, but in general it's easier to just start out with a fresh bevel, so that would mean starting on the 1k. An alternative would be to work your way down from high grit to low. That is, hone it with the 12k, strop, and shave. If that doesn't work, then drop to the 8k, then 12k, strop, and shave...

There was a time, way back in the day, like 2006-7, when all the guys here only used their norton 4/8K to hone a razor from bevel to finish.

Do you NEED a 12K stone, no!

Do you NEED a 1K for bevels? NO! but it makes it easier and faster...

Can you hone from start to finish on a Coticule alone? YES!!!
See coticule.be if you want one of those Belgians.

Are Japanese Natural hones amazing and really cool to buy? YES! Do you need it, no!

Eschers can be 500-700.00USD on Ebay but should you buy it because someone told you to?

Here's the point I am trying to make; you can easily shave off the norton 4/8K if you know how to hone a razor right....but that takes months and a lot of practice to learn to do, it's not the hone's fault if the edge seems not as good as it should be...

Have you been using a straight razor that was honed by someone else for a few months to get the handling of the blade on your face down? Factory edges are not shave ready from what I've experienced.

We are all here to help you learn the most you can with the money and means that you have, please don't break the bank on all the hones in the world if you're new and don't have experience honing razors by simple means first.

If you have a 1K & a Norton 4/8 you're all set. Maybe a Norton flattening stone or a D8C for lapping so you don't have to keep buying sandpaper, but otherwise, you're good for now.

You can experiment w/ different finishers if you want, but you shouldn't need them to get a good shave. If you do, you haven't gotten all you can out of your 8k. HAD can be fun, but it's not essential--it's a luxury only.

If you want to play around w/ coticule only honing, I'd recommend you do so after you can reliably get a good edge off the Norton--slurry dilution on those can be really finicky anyway, doubly so if you're just learning to hone. Work on getting repeatable results first so you always have some method to turn to should a honing experiment not work.

You don't really need any other hones. It's a luxury...albeit a luxury we all seem to go after...lol...just ad it to the AD list. My first hone was a Norton 4/8k combo and it was all I used. Watch Glens (gssixgun) video on one stone honing or Lynns.

Here's a good link from the wiki, should answer some of your questions...
What hone(s), paste(s), or spray(s) do I need? - Straight Razor Place Wiki

Originally Posted by Stultstastic

Hello All,

I'm new to this straight razor game and I'm interested in honing my own razors. i currently have a 1000 grit stone and a norton 4/8. My understanding is that I need one more hone around 12k. Can someone confirm that is the case?

Also, my razor has a factory "shave ready" edge. I'm going to get it professionally honed but I was just curious as to what hone you would start on regarding sharpening a factory shave ready razor!


Thanks,
Stultsy

Someone can and that someone is you.
You need to shave test your razor....

A finisher is nice to have.
After you learn to hone with the combo
you can compare and contrast with a
professional edge to see if you need
or want that last bit of magic.

Your Norton 4K/8K is a wonderful hone you may not need any more.
The pyramid method works wonders with a Norton combo.

One hint on the Norton is one time and one time only
lap the top 1mm of hone away. Nortons seem to have
a surface skin that is not as good as the rest of the hone,
especially on the 8K side. Two dollars of coarse wet/dry
paper is all it takes to get that 1mm off.

Go to Forums, then scroll down to Honing. You will find a sub title: Advanced Honing. Check out Lynn and Glen One Stone Honing. I think that's where you will find a video link to where Glen shows how to use the 4/8 to put a nice edge on a razor! No Rocket Science just technique and patients!

If the link isn't there give me a PM and I'll get it to you!

Spock lied all those years ago! Computers are NOT LOGICAL!

thanks everyone for all the advice. I will definitely check out the videos on one stone honing!

best,
Stultsy

Originally Posted by niftyshaving

One hint on the Norton is one time and one time only
lap the top 1mm of hone away. Nortons seem to have
a surface skin that is not as good as the rest of the hone,
especially on the 8K side. Two dollars of coarse wet/dry
paper is all it takes to get that 1mm off.

I believe that this is more true of the 4K side.