Thread: New guy, dumb question

Hey. I came here mostly to get a feel for SR brands and creams and whatnot.

I am very confident in my sharpening technique, yet I don't want to do something stupid.

I am familiar with sharpening freehand, I got into sharpening through sushi knives, and take my stuff to a pretty high polish...about .5 microns.

So a straight razor is just a HG hunk of very hard steel, no? It seems that there are VERY different conventions on equipment here rather than kitchen knife forums, perhaps I am just used to a more severe acquisition disorder being the norm? Seems like mostly the rule of thumb here is to have your razor professionally honed, and strop it yourself...whereas I am used to the norm being to buy about $2k worth of stones, strops, hones, compounds, pastes, sprays, deburring blocks, etc etc.

i'll let someone else answer that question for you..


welcome to srp.

The big difference (from a honing view point at least) is that we are talking about paper-thin edges. Your handmade Sashimi knives are thin...but only by knife standards. There is also the fact that I believe razors are a little softer than we think. Usually high 50s, not the low to mid 60s like good knives. That because of the last difference: Knive have to be sharp. Period. Razors need to be sharp and smoooooooooooooth.

A HG hunk of steel is not simply a HG hunk of steel.

If the going advice on the knife forums is to drop $2k on honing equipment it's elitism...plain and simple.

I use to spend time of knife forums. I learn more here, and you don't have to pull out the tape measure every other thread. (Alright, it's not that bad, but this place has a different and imo a better spirit about it.) Maybe I was just on the wrong knife forum?

There are no dumb questions, just new members with questions. Feel free to ask any questions you have and I think if you have 2k to spend on the essentials to hone razors, then you will have an awesome set-up and we'll be asking directrions to your house to check out your stones.

Originally Posted by ReardenSteel

There are no dumb questions, just new members with questions. Feel free to ask any questions you have and I think if you have 2k to spend on the essentials to hone razors, then you will have an awesome set-up and we'll be asking directrions to your house to check out your stones.

Definitely!!! ...and I forgot to give a hearty WELCOME to SRP!!! lol

Welcome to SRP John is it??

You might want to read this developing thread

http://straightrazorpalace.com/hones...tml#post751049

As Soliarch already eluded to, the main difference in sharpening a straight razor and every other kind of "Hunk of Steel" is your face... Everything else just has to get sharp, and is pretty much by the book, Straight Razors have to get oh some much sharper, then you are going to take that sharpness, and drag it across your face , so it has to be smooth too... There is little science to this, it is much more art, then science, it can be frustrating because pushing the "sharp" can lose the smooth, and even worse pushing the edge, can lose the sharp, that balance between all this is what we strive for...

Fun Huh???

Yeah......I'm not touching this either,over my head.But what Gssixgun says is true....and welcome to SRP !!

That makes sense! Kitchen knives are a balance of strength vs cutting power, so cutting power vs smoothness makes sense. That gives me a good feel for the field.

You really do not need to spend $2K on hones & such for straight razors although some guys here have done so, We generally suggest that the basic hones are a 4K & 8K. The goal is to develop a very sharp shaving edge off the 8K. Once that is done then we progress to the finer grit hones and abrasive pasted paddle strops.

The coarser grits 325, 500, 1000 are meant to restore an old edge and start the bevel formation. The bevel is refined and finished by the 4K.

Welcome to SRP,

I think spending 2k on hones when you are just starting to learn to hone is counter productive. It will introduce too many variables for you to wonder about when you are learning to hone. Better to buy a basic set up and learn to get results from that first, then start experimenting.