Thread: Some dude from outside Chicago

Welcome. Not sure whether to call you Walter or Mr. Wombat but welcome all the same. There's plenty of information to draw from here in the annals but you also ask a question and people are always willing to help.
As far as stones there are lots to choose from. That's a rabbit hole all its own to fall down. That said a Norton combination set (600/1k, 4k/8k comb
and a flattening stone)is an inexpensive place to start for some decent quality stones that will last a long time. Among other vendors sharpeningsupplies.com carries them for a reasonable price and may have sales on the set. That will do everything you need up to finishing but that is a whole other rabbit hole. I'm sure some others will give suggestions that will help you part with your money which you can always do with stones. Still, for a couple of hundred you can get all you will need before you fall in head first.
Enjoy your time and join right in. Pictures, pictures, pictures. We love pictures.

Hi and welcome aboard. You have come to the right place for help. Folks here are all about helping other to succeed in everything razors.

Sounds like you have a bevel setter and a finisher but hou could use a couple steps in between. 1k is what is used to set the bevel. 3 or 4k then 8k will polish the bevel so that you can finish on a 10 or 12k. Some of us go as high as 20k. Naniwa stones are great. Norton stones are too but you have to soak them.

Do some reading in the honing section and you will find lots of info on stones. As far as your razor... I can see some bevel at the heal but it looks like it vanishes as it goes to the tip. A jewelers loupe is a great tool for honing. Look directly down on the edge. If you see sparkles of light then the bevel is not properly set. This is step one of razor honing and its the most important one too.

It's definitely worth taking Gasmans advice to heart.

I learned the hard way that a person can hone away on higher grit stones until they wear their razor away to nothing but will never get a good edge until they get that bevel set right first.

Sure you may be able to shave but it won't be good and it won't feel nice.

It might be an idea to get a cheap truly shave ready vintage razor from the BST thread here on the forum so you will have a good edge to compare yours to otherwise you can hone away but with nothing to compare your edge to you won't know if you are succeeding or even finished.

Any razor for sale on here that claims to be shave ready will be, you can take that to the bank.

Actually the first razor I bought was a restored 100 year old English razor from a dude in Georgia I found on Etsy. Maybe he's even on here, cause I love the thing. I love old knives and stuff, and it has this beautiful patina on it that he was smart enough not to remove. I've seen people "restore" old knives that sand down the patina and it almost gives me a stroke.

Originally Posted by Gasman

Sounds like you have a bevel setter and a finisher but hou could use a couple steps in between. 1k is what is used to set the bevel. 3 or 4k then 8k will polish the bevel so that you can finish on a 10 or 12k. Some of us go as high as 20k. Naniwa stones are great. Norton stones are too but you have to soak them.

Do some reading in the honing section and you will find lots of info on stones. As far as your razor... I can see some bevel at the heal but it looks like it vanishes as it goes to the tip. A jewelers loupe is a great tool for honing. Look directly down on the edge. If you see sparkles of light then the bevel is not properly set. This is step one of razor honing and its the most important one too.

Yeah, he has some stones but he said earlier, "cheap ones I got for knives." Some of those cheap Chinese stones are good for a door stop and that's about all. Depending on what that means he may be better of starting over. I have some cheap Chinese carborundum stones that I wouldn't use to sharpen a hoe or shovel with. I need to throw that thing out because crappy tools are worse.than no tool at all IMHO.

Walter, no offense intended to you or anyone else but you say, "patina," I say, "rusty looking old crap." That is a matter of personal preference but I'll tell you why I say that. A knife is one thing, but a razor you shave your face with and potentially cut yourself. Barbers are no longer allowed to use a traditional straight razor (only disposable blade ones) because even with a clean one blood born disease can be spread by them. Add to that funk that can hold antigens and you are increasing the chances. I am a real stickler about this probably because that's what my father taught me. I can remember him refusing to sharpen razors that were rusty for that reason. In retrospect he possibly could have restored it as I have done countless times but that was not his thing. His thing was sharpening.
Anyway this is all academic. We all go through life and have our own hang ups and things we shrug off. Probably none of us are totally right. JMO.
As far as the soaking part with Norton's, I don't know what all the fuss is. So you put it in water for 5-10 minutes. Impatience is not something I'd recommend making a habit of with honing.

Originally Posted by PaulFLUS

As far as the soaking part with Norton's, I don't know what all the fuss is. So you put it in water for 5-10 minutes. Impatience is not something I'd recommend making a habit of with honing.

Whenever I get a used razor, the first thing I do is soak it in Barbacide.

As far as Nortons and soaking stones in general, I started with Nortons and still use them sometimes because a 15 minute soak isn't a big deal as you have said.

I do love that with my Naniwas I think to myself, I think I'll do a particular razor - Naniwas out, splash and go, BAM!

As a wise man once said:

"Whatever sharpens your pencil."

Originally Posted by PaulFLUS

Yeah, he has some stones but he said earlier, "cheap ones I got for knives." Some of those cheap Chinese stones are good for a door stop and that's about all. Depending on what that means he may be better of starting over. I have some cheap Chinese carborundum stones that I wouldn't use to sharpen a hoe or shovel with. I need to throw that thing out because crappy tools are worse.than no tool at all IMHO.

Walter, no offense intended to you or anyone else but you say, "patina," I say, "rusty looking old crap." That is a matter of personal preference but I'll tell you why I say that. A knife is one thing, but a razor you shave your face with and potentially cut yourself. Barbers are no longer allowed to use a traditional straight razor (only disposable blade ones) because even with a clean one blood born disease can be spread by them. Add to that funk that can hold antigens and you are increasing the chances. I am a real stickler about this probably because that's what my father taught me. I can remember him refusing to sharpen razors that were rusty for that reason. In retrospect he possibly could have restored it as I have done countless times but that was not his thing. His thing was sharpening.
Anyway this is all academic. We all go through life and have our own hang ups and things we shrug off. Probably none of us are totally right. JMO.
As far as the soaking part with Norton's, I don't know what all the fuss is. So you put it in water for 5-10 minutes. Impatience is not something I'd recommend making a habit of with honing.

Oh not rust just old metal look. It's actually the blade in the picture

Welcome, If you take your photo and enlarge it in a photo editor you can get a much better picture of what is going on with the razor and your honing.

You have a bevel at the toe and the heel but not at in the middle, it does not appear the bevels are meeting in the middle. This is most probably because the heel needs correction and you are honing on the stabilizer and even the tang,(red arrows). This is keeping the heel half of the razor off the stone.

So more pressure was added to try to frorce the middle on the stone, (a common new honer “technique”) and further ground the toe at the edge and spine(blue Arrows. Enough pressure was use to cause scratching on the belly,( green arrows).

If you correct the heel,( there are many post on heel correction, 5 minutes with a diamond plate), the razor will lay flat on the stone and be much easier to hone.

If you can shave with this edge, chances are you are shaving with just the toe and possibly the heel.

Amazon inexpensive stones may sharpen tools and some knives, but generally are too soft for razors. A 10k stone is over $100 so if it is an inexpensive “Natural 10K”, it’s not 10k and probably closer to 5-6k.

It all depend on what you are willing to spend, but if you are smithing, you should invest in some quality stones. Kings are great inexpensive stones, one of the oldest Japanese water stones makers. A King 1/6K combo stone is a great starter stone and inexpensive, then a good 8-12k finisher and strop on some Chrome Oxide will keep you shaving for a long time, once you master stropping.