Thread: Less is more

I have been watching the threads for a while and I have noticed that people are buying all sorts of stones and I have to ask myself why. I am a big believer in the K I S S rule, keep it simple stupid. I am not trying to be offensive, far from it, I am trying to save some of you time and money.... and FRUSTRATION. There are all sorts of stones out there to fit every budget and every need wether they be synthetic or naturals, but what has caught my attention is the fact that some go out and get the "rock of the moment" just because it is hot right now.

For several years I have been an advocate of the barber hone for everyone, novice to pro to keep an edge. I understand wholly the desire to learn more and do more. Been there, done that and got the crappy T shirt. I have recently sold my non essential stones: Charnley Forest and an extra coticle or two and I am getting back to the basic necessary stones.

So what I would like to see in this thread are the true honers (experienced only) on this site to post their ideal "basic" set ups. Just the stones you need to take a vintage razor, wether from ebay or the swap meet and accomplish the following; set a bevel, polish the edge and bring it to true "shave ready" status.

My typical routine is thus: Shapton 1k, Shams unknown origin 3k blue stone, vintage coticle, vintage Thuringian(non Escher) and finally a few strokes on a home made paddle strop with Chrome ox.

So lets do some show and tell, do some story telling and see how simple this can really be. Bring out the Nortons, the naniwas, pastes and strops and what have you but keep it simple, no more than 4 stones need apply.

Have fun guys!