Thread: New Here

Well, I tried to fix the pictures, but I can't. The deal is, in the second picture that is showing the end of the blade, the very end of the spine has angles on it, it's not rounded down towards the end of the blade. Not really such a big deal to me, as long as the edge is still good, I was just curious if this is normal. I'll probably pretty it up a bit anyways when I get it.

I was also kind of wondering about using the proper equipment. Right now I have a 2 sided Pike (by Norton) stone, really it's meant for tools and knives, but one side of it is either 8000 or finer, and that's what I use on my razors. I also use an old leather belt with jewelers rouge rubbed into the leather real well for stropping instead of an actual purpose built strop and paste. This works well for me, and I feel I get the blade just as sharp this way as I could any other way. I did just order a cheap Chinese water stone though (12,000 grit), so I'm going to try that out and see if it makes a difference to me. I know it's cheap, and Chinese, but because what I already have works, I'm not too concerned with losing $20 if the new stone turns out to be crap. I just couldn't see spending upwards of $80 for one of the really fine high end European stones. I think the cheapest I've seen besides this Chinese stone, was maybe an American stone for around $40, so I'm taking a chance.

Anyone see a problem with what I'm already using? Or is it one of those things where it's okay to use what works? I should also add, I'm not too concerned about blade erosion, as I've only had to hone my Wester Brothers once, and since then my "strop" has kept it sharp. I've been using that razor for 18 months or so, until I dropped it the other day.