Thread: Beginner Honing Question - Cannot Get Straight Razor Sharp

Touchups like this is what a barbers hone is for, it should be the first hone anyone ever buys. Send the razor to a pro and as you await its return search ebay for a barbers hone.

Originally Posted by nun2sharp

Touchups like this is what a barbers hone is for

What exactly is a Barber's hone?

I bought a 12K stone from SRD in order to maintain my edge. Is a Barber's hone different?

would have to defer to the more knowledgeable members on that one, as i've never owned one. Am unsure of grits etc, but a barbers hone in a nutshell is a small hone used by barbers (sometimes on a daily basis) way back when when proper straights were still used, in order to maintain the edges. If you've got a 12k, don't worry about having a barbers hone, you don't need one.

In fact a 12k is maybe a better investment in the long term because it serves the dual purpose of refreshing, and when you come to buying your other honing stone, eg a 4/8k combo, its a finisher. when you do get it though put the 12k away until you "learn" your 4/8k. when it comes to a honing from scratch (a restore for example) the 12k is useless if you haven't done the proper work on the 8k first.

I think I also found some of my problems. When I bought the Norton 4k/8k the 8k side wasn't completely flat. When the laid the blade down flat you could see small gaps in some areas. I read the section on lapping and lapped my 4k/8k with a 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper on a flat granite tile and then finished off with the 600 grit.

After doing this I noticed my hone was MUCH smoother. Almost like a porcelin slippery feel to it. Before it was way too rough and was taking off too much metal and also maybe why I couldn't get it as sharp as I wanted.

I polished off my straight razor on the 8k again and now it's way better. It's actually shavable now.

Thanks for all the help.

that was probably your only problem should hav been the first question i asked though. always always lap a stone if it's brand new, which i'm assuming it is. have you lapped the 4k side as well? hones don't come flat, and they can't be flat enough.

Hi Tekbow,

Yes I also lapped the 4k side as well. Much better than before. And yeah the stone was brand new. I will keep the lapping in mind for every other stone I buy. Thanks again.

No worries SSP, now, what you should start find with the now smooth 8k side is that when the razor starts to get close to ready you'll get more feedback, think a very light dragging sucking sensation, but more than you get during the honing up to that point. as you practice more you''ll start to feel the progression up this as well. When you do start to feel it, and this is going to be hard to describe, make your stokes really light, and by that i mean almost negative pressure. Think of backing the pressure off enough to almost counter the sucking sensation, but not enough to lift the edge off the hone. I've found this is where i get really fine edges that are real comfortable to shave with and deserve to be taken up to the 12k for smoothing and refining.

cheers

Simon