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(1) I have an 8k hone that I purchased recently. I wanted to practice putting an edge on a gold dollar. progress has been minimal. Is this because the 8k hone is for "polishing"?
(2) Surfing the web I see much less available on hones than I do straights. Is it possible that SR lovers are more attached to their hones than they are to their razors?
thanks!
I don't know what the edge on your razor was like before you started, but a typical honing progression with synthetic stones is to start with a 1k to set the bevel, then move to a 3-5k, then an 8kish, and then a finisher if you so choose. The 8k certainly won't remove much steel quickly, so unless the edge is already close to shave ready you'll be spending quite a fair bit of time on the 8k.
Imagine that your stone grits are exactly like sandpaper. The lower the grit, the wider and deeper the scratches. Your job as the honer, is to progressively move through series of stones that will reduce the breadth and depth of the scratches. At the 8K level you're moving into the "shave ready" category, everything else being equal before it.
I believe the consensus of opinion is that they are pretty near or slightly in the "do not buy" category. As far as how sharp it is, well, I'm still in the "learning my experience" stage of development.
Get a Norton 4k single grit or a naniwa 5k. If you want a 1k the chosera is my favorite although there are cheaper alternatives. Work on getting good edges off of the hones up to 8k and when you accomplish that start looking for a higher grit finisher if you want icing on the cake. Just IMHO.
It depends on the condition of your blade, and your skill level. An 8k is polisher. Your blade may need more than you can get out of it. If you plan on maintaining your own blades, you will need a 1k, and 4 or 5k. As far as hones to blades on the net, Hones are always scarse, and blades are always plentiful, or more available, that's just how it is....especially with rare or vintage hones, like Escher, Charnley, Thuringian. There's plenty of new stuff, Chosera, Norton, Naniwa, Shapton, and even Coticules....
Everyone is giving you great advice already...
This thread really outlines the problems that face new people to this hobby though...
You have shown the exact reason why we try like crazy to start people down this journey of straight razor shaving along known pathways, here are just some of the variables that come into play from this one simple post...
Please understand that I am not singling you out I am trying to help you and other newbies...
Questions that need to be addressed here
The razor:
Gold dollars are famously inconsistent
About 75% of them have a heel problem that has to be addressed or the back 1/3 of the blade does not touch the hone
About 30% are mis-ground so the the bevels will never be straight
Most have problems with the scales that can range from a minor inconvenience to downright dangerous to you...
The stone:
What 8k???
To a inexperienced honer this is simply a polisher
To an experienced person depending on the stone it can be used for everything but the bevel set
The shaver:
An inexperienced shaver needs a near perfect edge to struggle through their first shaves
somebody with experience can shave with a much less perfect edge
These were just some quick thoughts I had...
Looking over your other posts it looks as though this is your first straight, unless I read something wrong, if you bought this for honing practice more power to ya... However if you bought it as your first real straight razor, and you want to shave it, Please drop me a pm and I will hone it up for you to get you started off down the path...
You cover shipping and the honing is on me.. I just happen to know how to fix most of those problems I talked about on the GDGD's too :)
I would send a PM to Glen, you would need a full range of hones and a bit of pracice to get an edge on a GD. The bevels are often very screwed up, I have one that needed about 30-40 minutes to set a bevel with a DMT 325.
You're a class act, Glen. 'Just another much deserved 'bravo' for your kindness & generosity.