Thread: no need for all these very expensive stones heres a cheap one.

Originally Posted by Birnando

As stated earlier, a barber hone is indeed a fine alternative.
Others swear by lapping film, some use a piece of balsa or similar with some kind of paste on it.
A lot of our members just want to maintain their shave ready edges, and those alternatives are all cheap and effective ways to do that.
You'll find tons of posts about them here, and quite a few users who gets by with that, and that alone for long periods of time.

Just out of curiosity, what brand is your barber hone?

See post above.

And yes, that was the point I was trying to make. Not trying to start any arguments here, I promise!

Its more a hobby than a necessity. You can buy tomato sauce but you might like it a certain way. That's my take on it. You can probably go 1 year without a hone, I don't know but for me, I like my hones, strops pastes etc.

Aren't we just debating the distinction between 'necessary' and 'advantageous'?

I could play golf and shoot below 80 with just a 7-iron and a putter. I can do it a lot better and have more fun doing so with a full set of clubs. The 7-iron will work fine for most shots, albeit giving up some distance. But in golf, as in honing, sometimes you come upon a shot requiring 200 yards over water, and the 7-iron just won't get the job done.
We're also confusing "touching-up" and "honing".

This thread has been around awhile and I somehow missed it. A lot of good stuff has been said. When I read the OP I immediately thought of going fishing when I was a kid with a ball of string. We called it a 'drop line'. A ball of string wound on a stick with a hook on the end, a little bait. Dropped it off the 5st pier and we were fishing. Even caught something once in awhile.

The rods, reels, and tackle that are available are useful, and for those who do enjoy fishing, can be a passion. I kind of feel that way about hones. As Lynn recently pointed out in another thread, razors, like people are all the same, yet all have individual personalities. The same can be said for hones.

Part of what floats my boat in this sport is bringing various razors to various hones and the challenge to get the maximum out of the stone and the steel. So it is like anything else, there are individuals who are just in it to shave their face as cheaply and well as possible, and that is the end of it.

Others are passionate about the hobby and embrace honing razors as a hobby rather than a chore. Neither one is wrong, just different approaches.

That "redhead" hone is a ceramic rod for hunting knives.

I'd rather use these:

Ceramic and Diamond Sharpening Stones

Spaceage Cermic Guideblocks - Honing tools

Barber Supplies - Barbershop Equipment - Hard Arkansas Razor Hone

Or any of a million other options that have been discussed on this site. Versatile, cheap options to touch up a razor are a very popular topic on this site. Not a day goes by that there aren't posts about using a cheap, fine hone; or some cheap paste to keep a razor sharp for a long time on a budget. I've never seen a post that says you need to collect lot's of expensive hones for regular maintenance. There aren't any secrets here.

I have a bunch of rocks. They are tools for honing razors, and that's my hobby. So I'm happy.

Michael

Originally Posted by seacaptainchris

u keep that wind laddie ill stick 2 power driven sea goin vessels that generally take a 500 ton master.i didnt mean to start the proverbial war ,all i was sayin was if u want people to stay on this sight ,maby give em a few options,and not just the expensive 25 rock hobby honing ones.

"Aye Capt'n Cris,,it's good to have ya back, I missed ya mate! I membur the days aboard the Ole Queen Anne, long before that magic ceramic of yours,,,when a man needed to true his cutlass, ya called on Ole Davie Jones himself, strop his back a few times,,,a crusty Ole sole he was,,,,,,,,,,

There are plenty of cheap ways to keep your razor shave ready, crox, barbers hones, lapping film, etc. That is the beauty of straight razors, but probably the most important is stropping, i have heard of 100+ shaves off a freshly honed razor, and a local who shaved with one Puma razor for 15 years. Maintaining an edge on your razor is an art in itself and one i am concentrating on more than hitting the hones. I have been shaving with the same razor for the last 7 shaves, with no discernible degradation to the edge. I think i could easily reach 30 shaves or more with just a strop. Maintaining an edge is alot different to getting that edge shave ready, that is where the other hones come in. If your blade has even a minute chip in it, good luck getting it out with your chinese 12k, see you in a month or so.