Thread: Hooked on Straight Razors!

Hi! I'm branfael and I've recently been turned onto straight razors. Had a few shaves and am sorta kinda teaching myself. My current issue is finding a good honing stone that won't break my meager piggy bank.

Anyway... Hello

If your razor is already shave ready, you can get either a barber's hone or a Chinese 12k stone...neither will break the bank. If you're interested in vintage finds, then the price of a good set of hones will pay for itself in honing vintage models right back up to par.

What kinda sword are you wielding?

I've not found honing to come easily, so be aware that having a stone is still a long way from home. The videos and forums are your (very good) friends.

'Hope the experience continues to get better.

There is a tremendous amount of very useful information on this board. You may wish to start with this thread which appears in the Wiki:

What hone(s), paste(s), or spray(s) do I need? - Straight Razor Place Wiki

Enjoy your journey and welcome to SRP.

As said, there is no "one size fits all" in honing razors.

What you indend to do with the hone is primary and you need to figure what your "mission profile" is.

Hone it all: This is "I need everything" and can become expensive. A full set can be a couple hundred minimum. Having a full set is useful if you are planning on aquiring dull razors that have been used for sharpening pencils and such. More geared to the "Do it Yourself" type that enjoys the hands on of honing their own razor from start to finish.

Touch up: This is the other end of the spectrum. Some live forever with a lower end "polish" stone and can set the bevel on razors that have been used until they are quite dull if need be, but not so dull that they don't still shave. Perhaps a Swaty type or an 8k along with a Cromium Oxide pasted strop or balsa is really all many will need. Anything heavier like dinging off the faucet and you can always send it out for repair or honing.

I would say that if you have a shave ready edge and all you're looking for is a way to maintain that edge then some sort of high grit finisher (Naniwa 12k for example) will be enough to keep you going for a long time.

A few swipes on that stone every week to 10 days (depending on use of the razor and your beard) should keep the edge for ages.