Thread: Hello rabbit hole.

If you are venturing into the rabbit hole of honing because you think it is cheaper to hone your own than to send them out for honing, then stop immediately and escape the hole.

It is quite easy to spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on hones. You can send out a lot of razors for the cost of a full set of hones. Of course, if you are satisfied with purchasing a single high grit hone for refreshing your edges periodically to extend the time between honings, it can be cost effective.

I started honing because I wanted to add to my knowledge and skills. I see honing as a natural extension of the wet shaving hobby. I enjoy the sound and feel of steel on stone. I like experimenting with various hones and honing techniques in the relentless pursuit of the perfect edge for my individual beard and face. You might find the right method to produce the perfect edge for you on one razor and find that a completely different method works on yet another razor. I doubt I will ever hone enough razors to consider myself a honemeister, but I enjoy sharpening my own razors.

A honemeister is simply someone who has learned a lot in the process of honing multiple lot of razors. However, even the best still have a lot to learn. Every razor honed adds to their knowledge and skills. Thus, the rabbit hole can be as shallow or as deep and twisted as you want it to be.

I hope you enjoy this aspect of a great hobby. Honing can be quite therapeutic. Of course, if you come across a razor that won't behave on the stones, it can be quite frustrating. However, in the process of learning how to hone those frustrating razors, you acquire the greatest skill.

My hone rig:
House of knives (Chinese) water stone under Edge Logix branding -
400/1000, 1000/3000, 4000/10000,
220 lapping stone
Inexpensive hand held microscope
(Like this guy at 21:25 - https://www.youtube.com/shared?ci=c_DjcyEtl7I )
5 mW red laser to assess blade bevels
(Like this https://www.youtube.com/shared?ci=tH9zjykXRUw )

From Straight Razor Designs since most of my research online pointed me there.
Dovo Bismark 6/8 full hollow with black ebony scales
3" English Riding leather strop with nylon alternate strop

I was initially going to just get the 4000/10000 stone to refresh my straight razor, then I realized I have dull kitchen knives, woodworking chisels, and pocket knife so the balanced tipped and I decided to learn a new skill.

There is a certain satisfaction that comes from a sharp edge. I would be lying if I said I didn't love it.

Babg0Bang00

Thanks for sharing the idea about using an inexpensive laser to evaluate the edge. I had never considered that as a potential tool, but it makes sense now that I have seen how to use the tool.

Hello and welcome to SRP!
The funny thing about the rabbit hole is that it doesn't seem to have a bottom...you just keep falling!
Anyway, enjoy this long, strange trip!

Pete <:-}

Welcome to SRP! I'm new myself. Tons of info here.

By far, the cheapest long term route is to have it honed by a pro. Get a finishing hone and refresh the razor as needed. As long as you don't damage the razor, this will keep you going for years, maybe for a lifetime. $30 is a bargain, versus buying tons of gear, and going through a long learning curve.

welcome, do yourself a favor and look at as many honing videos on youtube as needed to get yourself comfortable with the routine. Not all approach it in the same manner but you will start to readily pick out the fundamentals. I highly recommend Lynns and Glenns videos. Learn sharpness tests to gage your progress thru the hones as described here on the forum and don't bother with lasers. Sorry I'm not tech saavy enough to upload links to the threads on sharpness tests, perhaps some other folks will be kind enough to do so. Rabbit holes are fun, enjoy the process

Not only have I enjoyed the rabbit hole, but I also appreciate avoiding any potential loss and/or damage of my razors in shipment. I once worked at UPS, so I have seen plenty of breakages and what happens when unloaders really don't give a crap about what they are doing. I suspect USPS is comparable.

Originally Posted by Speedster

Not only have I enjoyed the rabbit hole, but I also appreciate avoiding any potential loss and/or damage of my razors in shipment. I once worked at UPS, so I have seen plenty of breakages and what happens when unloaders really don't give a crap about what they are doing. I suspect USPS is comparable.

You make a good point.

I do not like sending things through USPS or the package services when I can avoid it. The main issue is that you have to wrap and package the item, label the package, pay the shipping fee and deliver it to the drop-off point. That takes a longer than it does to take out the hones and put an edge on the razor. If you never ship it, there is no risk of loss or breakage in transit.

Hello and welcome to SRP.
It is not because I am a Belgian, but if you need only one stone, then take a belgian coticule/BBW combo wich covers 3K to 9K grit range with the dilucot method. Lower grit is for severe restauration, higher grit can be replaced with chromox paste and leather.