Thread: honing?

Hi all,

I have shaved with a straight razor for years, though it uses disposable blades.
I also have an old fashioned one from solingen, but I have never had a really good shave with it.

Probably this is because it is dull, even though it was sold as being ready to shave. It is certainly much duller than the disposables in my other straight.
Still, lately I have been wanting to swith to the real straight, and I am trying to get it honed.

I have a paddle strop that is plain leather on one side, and has a brown-reddish paste on the other side.

I have always thought that the side with the paste on it is for sharpening it when it gets dull. however, from what I read one this site I also need a 4K/8K stone to sharpen it?
Btw, Is it possible to make it as sharp as a disposable blade, using a stone like that, or do I need something else as well?

Thanks.

Bruno,

You'll never be able to get a traditional straight blade as sharp as a disposable, although I think they can come close with a lot of practice.

You will need some kind of hone to get your blade up to snuff. Most of us use a Norton 4000/8000 grit waterstone, which goes for $70 to $90. It'll last you the rest of your life if properly cared for.

The paddle strop and paste you describe are used for minor touch-ups on a well-honed blade. So if you try to sharpen only with the paste, you'll probably spend about three weeks trying and then get frustrated.

Read through the help files here; there's tons of great info about honing. We're glad to answer any questions you might have.

Good luck,
Josh

Welcome aboard Bruno. You got some good advice from Josh. The most common way to go about it is to hone it with a Norton 4/8k and then either use a fine finishing hone or a paddle strop with abrasive pastes to give the blade an extra polish. It will never be as sharp as an AC but it will give you BBS shaves anyways.

Thanks for your suggestions.

Another question:
What is slurry, and do I need it?
It is mentioned in several threads I've read so far.

Slurry is just the mud formed when some of the stones surface breaks away from it during honing. Since it comprises broken down abrasive, its grit will be higher (finer) than the stone from which it came. This means you can get a finer polish from the slurry than you would if you rinsed it from the surface of the stone.

Sometimes a small piece of fine abrasive is used to build up slurry before honing. This is called a nagura.

Some very hard stones do not break down much and so will not really produce their own slurry. Again a nagura can be useful to build some up on these stones.

I did some more reading, through lynn's tips as well, and several people indicate that they use a japanese or belgian waterstone (coticule??) after using the 4/8.

Is this something I should do as well?

I'm trying to find a balance between spending lots of money and getting a smooth shave.

the coticule is just another step in the process they are using as a refining tool. the 4k and 8k produce a bevel and start to finish the edge. some people stop here as they like that feel. most i'd say continue on to use a higher grit tool to produce a more polished, more sharp edge. these can be many types of finishing hones (coticule, there are chinese/japanese 12k or 15k grit stones, there are many finishing hone listed over at www.redtrader99.com that people use, also some people use a pasted paddle strop from tony miller). its whatever you feel like using.

one thing i think people overlook is that when you buy this hone you are going to have it forever. you will use it often and it will last longer then you are alive. so don't put too much stress on the price as the longevity is superb. coticules are expensive but many people swear by them. you can get hones for much cheaper that could work just as well or perhaps not as well.

i use a norton combo 4k/8k ..and then a chinese 12k. the chinese 12k works well but works very slowly.

so it would probably be a good idea to buy some kind of finishing product (hone or pasted paddle) to use on your razor as an extra polishing step to refine the blade. some people will say you don't need the extra step however many others would suggest it. try it without and if you aren't satisfied then pick up higher grit hone.

~J

Originally Posted by jscott

so it would probably be a good idea to buy some kind of finishing product (hone or pasted paddle) to use on your razor as an extra polishing step to refine the blade. some people will say you don't need the extra step however many others would suggest it. try it without and if you aren't satisfied then pick up higher grit hone.

~J

I do have a paddle strop that is leather on one side, and reddish paste on the other.
So basically, with that and the 4/8 combo I should be able to put a high quality edge on my razor (given practise of course), correct?

just to make sure, when I use the paste side of the strop, the edge of the razor is pointing away from the direction of the movement, whereas when using a stone the edge is pointing to the direction of the movement.
Right?

just to make sure, when I use the paste side of the strop, the edge of the razor is pointing away from the direction of the movement, whereas when using a stone the edge is pointing to the direction of the movement.
Right?

that is correct. edge leading for hones... spine leading for strops

do you know what kind of paste you have on your strop?

Originally Posted by jscott

that is correct. edge leading for hones... spine leading for strops

do you know what kind of paste you have on your strop?

The strop looks exactly like this one (same brand, same look):
http://www.shavingshop.com/index.php...6category%3D37

but with red paste instead. I don't have any more information about it, since I bought it in a shop several years ago.

Btw, if I buy the norton 4/8, do I need a flattening stone as well, or is that not necessary?