I planned to listen to the vets and not start honing yet, but...

I saw a very inexpensive generic combo stone on that big auction site and my five unhoned razors and the barbor hone that came with one called out to me :shrug::p So I read a lot and watched a lot of videos and honed a couple of razors. I'm pretty happy to have more than one honed razor now. I tried to hone three razors; two turned out good (smaller vintage Solingens) and one never really sharpened up. The one that didn't work out was a certain infamous cheapy that I bought just to see how bad or good it really was. That razor may be able to be honed, but not by me at this stage of my learning.

I probably should have put this in the Maintenance -> Honing section. Sorry.

There's nothing wrong with that, everybody has to start someplace. Sounds like your a hands on type of guy and that's the way to be. I'm not a honemeister, but I can put a comfortable shaving edge on a razor.

The key in my humble opinion is to learn how your hones work and then apply that to the particular razor. Bevel setting is fundamental, without a good bevel forget it, everything stems from a properly set bevel.

I know I'll get flamed for this but oh well, honing isnt rocket science, but an acquired skill that's an art form. Practice using the proper strokes and pressure is the only way you get better. If you make a mistake, then you figure out how to fix it. Everybody at one point in time has had problems so I'm sure there's somebody on here that can help you figure out whats wrong.

To me this is an adventure and a journey so enjoy it, that's what this is all about.

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Originally Posted by twogun

I'm not a honemeister, but I can put a comfortable shaving edge on a razor.

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This is what I'm aiming for right now. Tomorrow morning's shave will tell.

Let us know how you did.

It wasn't bad. Not as good as the job another member did for me a month ago, but I didn't use the barber hone as a finisher, as I planned. I'm not sure how to use it. We'll come back to that...

My combo stone is 1200 / 3000-ish. The razor I honed with it was dull with little noticeable bevel at all before honing. I shaved with it this morning and it didn't tug particularly, but didn't cut as effortlessly as the one someone else honed for me. Not much irritation, but not quite as good a shave. I assume I need to hone it finer than 3000.

The old barber hone: does it get soaked like my combo stone? Or is it a oil stone? Or should it be used dry? It's just an old typical barber hone - an Amalgamite.

Thanks for the replies and information guys!

My barber hone (I have a Swaty) does not soak, as a matter of fact water does not even stick to it :) so I use lather or a bit of soap on it's surface before a touchup. I don't know how good it would turn to be as a finisher, it's rather intended to be used for maintaining a razor. May worth trying though, I'm positive that more than one of the guru's here experimented with it :)
Before using your barber hone, if you haven't already, IMO lap it good on 400 grit sand paper then 800 or higher until it has a velvet smooth surface.
For finishing, I'd think you'd better be served by a 8K stone. A Norton or Naniwa 4k/8k combo stone would be probably more cost effective.

I agree with algernon. you'll probably want an 4000k/8000k norton. Once you get these down you could add the higher grit hones to really get a really good shaving edge.

But to work with what you've got, give the barber hone a try. Each hone is a little different and some cut a little faster, some a little slower, etc. Most I have seem to be in the 8000k range.

I use lather with a little more water than usual. Try the blade with 12 laps and pressure of the blade only and see how it shaves. Your not going to get the same polished edge as 12k hones and up, but you should get a pretty comfortable shave with some work if the bevels set correctly. Strop the blade about 50 laps on linen and about 100 laps on leather after the hone and see how the blade shaves. If its not where you want do a couple more laps on the hone, strop and check how it shaves.

I've got some blades that just seem to respond better to the old barber hones, and its handy to touch an edge up on the fly while shaving.

Again this isn't the end all be all, but working with what you have at the moment.

Let us know how it works for you.

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Originally Posted by twogun

...I know I'll get flamed for this but oh well, honing isnt rocket science, but an acquired skill that's an art form. Practice using the proper strokes and pressure is the only way you get better....

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I'm still a noob honer, as well, but I couldn't agree more. I've found honing to be a relatively straight-forward process once you get past setting the bevel, which can take a while depending on the condition of the razor. Once the bevel is set, the razors will almost hone themselves as long as you don't raise the spine and gouge the edge.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by twogun

I know I'll get flamed for this but oh well, honing isnt rocket science, but an acquired skill that's an art form.

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You only get flamed if you stand too close after lighting the rocket's wick. It's easy really, just read the instructions ;)

It rubs the razor on the hone or it gets the hose again.

James.

FYI, in my very humble opinion, with little shaving experience to back it up, I find my 1K, 3K, barber hone, pasted strop, canvas strop, leather strop progression to sharpen the four blades so far as well as my favorite that was professionally honed. These are all old Solingen blades. I also tried the infamous Chinese brand and was not able to hone it. This is my honing experience thus far :)

Hmmm... I have some explaining to do. I've known this for a while, but recently realized I should come back and clarify this post. I was wrong. I found a stone on eBay that claimed to be a 1200/3000 combo stone. I bought it, honed some razors with it, and got lucky once in a while with one that shaved after I finished it on my barber hone. I chalked the others up to the learning experience. Having never seen a stone finer than 600 grit (for my knives), I never questioned the stone from eBay.

A couple of weeks later I bought a King combo stone. It's a 1K/6K combo. Upon further review, my first stone was not 1200/3K. It might be 300/1K. At best. I didn't know what I was talking about when I started this thread, which is OK, but spouted off about it in a way that would influence others, which is not. So sorry fellow noobs, and more experienced guys that probably snickered and waited for this post. I'll continue to experiment and have fun, though.

Thanks,
Dave

I differ. Honing isn't that easy. It's not easy to learn and, depending on the razor, it's not easy to do. Take heart, not everyone gets it on the 1st or 100th try.
Rocket science no, it's mineral hardness and geometry.

Oh, I learned a lot, to be sure. I have shaven with multiple razors that I honed at about 1K, which is certainly pretty cool. Not smooth, but cool. And now I can put a pretty good edge on most razors (using the new stone and barber hone), including a near wedge (Union Spike). I think I learned a lot of the things the guys on here are trying to teach, without realizing it. It wasn't the smoothest way of learning, though, and a fair amount of razor burn was involved.