Thread: hello everyone

i have some experience with the straight razor, and im now getting back into the practice. ive purchase a couple of new razors and im in the process of learning to hone (sp) them. so, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Welcome!

It sounds like you're diving back into the hobby with both feet which is great..!

In terms of honing, check the Wiki (linked in my sig line below) for the "What Hones do I need?" article, and read the other articles in the honing section as well as they will really help you on your way.

The most important part of honing is bevel setting IMO. If you move off your bevel setter before a true edge is established then you'll end up with a very shiny and very dull edge..! Make sure you can easily have arm hair off the bevel setter and dont move off that hone until you can.

Dont get caught up in the mindset of needing an expensive Japanese hone or 30k Shapton (not yet anyway ) to get a good edge. Sure, an Asagi is a sexier hone than a 1k Shapton or Naniwa, but the bevel setter is probably the most important stone in a honers arsenal. Everything after the bevel setter is basically refining and polishing that initial edge. The bevel setting article in the Wiki goes into a lot more detail.

What hone(s) and razors do you have?

Good luck and keep us posted!

The 1K hone is usually thought of as the bevel setter. Keep in mind that if a blade edge is very rough and dull, the bevel setter might better be something like a DMT 325.

I like to think of two phases to setting the bevel... setting the bevel shape and setting the bevel edge. In most instances, the 1K hone sets the shape and the edge. If very rough and dull, you might use the DMT 325 to set the shape of the bevel, and the 1K to set the edge of the bevel.

I am oversimplifying. I hope you understand the point.