a bold, heretic statement.

Hi Guys

I don't know how many people will disagree with me, but I think I have figured out what a man truly needs to maintain his razors.

First off, I'd like to point out what I consider to be one of a noob's biggest challenges: Acquiring an idea of how sharp a razor is meant to be (i.e. shaveready).

I say, the following 'sharpening' equipment is enough to meet any man's shaving demands:

3 hones (1k, 3k-5k, 8k) and 1 leather strop, no pastes.


True, I don't know the awesomeness of a shapton 30k hone. perhaps if i ever got my hands on one, i'd say my statement above is wrong. perhaps i wouldn't.

I am still sort of unexperienced with straight razor shaving and honing. But I can keep my razors sharp. Sharp enough to give me decent, comfortable shaves. I don't know if I could get significantly better (with significant increase in skill and quality of equipment). I don't know if I had to get potentially better. I don't really care.

The puny equipment I use (check my sig) is enough to provide me a very nice shaving experience that I enjoy very, very much. So why bother acquiring even fancier equipment?

What do you think?

P.S. Don't get me wrong, I don't consider 'fancy' honing/stropping etc. equipment useless or 'voodoo' - people on these forums must have valid raesons for acquiring them....

I agree with you. I've got a lot more hones because honing razors is my hobby but, once I learned the skill, I could have shaved fine for the rest of my life with the Norton starter set I began with. The 1k, 4k and 8k. Plus a lapping plate of course ..... although sandpaper on a flat surface works too. As the old saying goes, it's not the arrow, it's the Indian. :tu

Yep, thats all you would ever really NEED. NEED being the key word. After the basic equipment you have various Aquisition Disorders and the quest for the ultimate edge, which drives a lot of us to chase new hones, strops, pastes, sprays etc
Grant

a bold, heretic statement.

Nope, pretty much exactly what we all say that have been doing this awhile... In fact many of us started with just the Norton 4k/8k and made do with that....

As Grant pointed out though, there is a huge difference between need and want....

There are also many different type of end users that prowl this forum, and each type thinks they have different needs and wants.. :D

I have been finishing my razors on my naniwa 8k for awhile now. Nothing wrong with your statement.

For a long time i think that was the top end of what most people used.

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Originally Posted by gssixgun

There are also many different type of end users that prowl this forum, and each type thinks they have different needs and wants.. :D

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+1! I have to admit, when I read about the nice japanese hones, or some other high-end natural stones, I do feel a little green-eyed devil on my shoulder. Then again, I do not hone any other razors than my own, and I really have little to gain from finding the fastest bevel setter out there. If I honed razors for a living I might think differently :)

Yes, what you NEED and what you want are two very different thing. You really only NEED one razor but how many of us only have one?

A professionally honed razor, a barber hone and a strop.

I've been looking into picking up some hones but have put it off because i really dont Need it at the moment. So i am curently use my old barber friend Carmen for all my honing needs. Just show up with a handful of razors and a bottle of Canadian Pure Gold Whisky, but then i have to take the bus home.

I started with a barber hone and got by just fine for several years until I found this place and found out about all the other hones I NEEDED!

wow, i wouldnt' have expected so much approbation :D thx for your answers, guys.

Uberhones, such as the 12k-30k ones are nice-to-haves, i take it then.

Nice to ahve, but I seriously don't want to shell out even MORE money for straight razor shaving than I already had so far, so I'll do without em.

Maybe one day, Razor stuff acquisition disorder will finally catch up with me. maybe.

I like to think that to figure out what one needs to maintain their razors, you need to think BACKWARDS. Like this:

* When you have just bought your first razor, shave-ready from a good vendor, you must use it as such, no friction on any surface.
* OK, so now it's been a few shaves, and you got the hang of the handling. Now you will learn how to strop. Stick to the leather side, it will just realign your edge properly.
* Getting a bit rough? Perhaps you should add to your stropping routine the canvas side, which will gently sharpen your edge.
* Well, seems now after more shaves that even canvas is not enough, so it's time to find a sharpening surface. At this point you have the choice to go towards a high-grit stone (12k) or a pasted surface (e.g. 1 micron diamond + CrOx).

That's where I am so far: 1 micron diamond paste, CrOx finishing, and then stropping. It's been a few months, and my edge is like new every time I hit the pasted strop.

Beyond this stage, you are probably entering the realm of repairs/restores, or the annual let's-make-sure-the-edge-is-perfect sharpening. The worse your blade is, the lower grit you will need.

There's really nothing new or bold about the OP. It's exactly what all the vet members say, actually. (And you don't even need the 1k - you could slurry on a 3k-5k synthetic; how do you think they did it with just a Norton 4k/8k combo?) But if you look at the number of posts made based on membership length, most of the posts are from newer members while the senior members post a much smaller % of the total posts. As a result, the opinions of the newer guys tend to dominate the forum (as far as volume/repetition). So opinions like "quarter hollows shave better than full hollows," "this razor is a full/true wedge," "You need to hone up to XXk to get a good shave," etc appear more often than senior guys can contradict or correct them.

In a forum like this NEED and WANT are two very different things,or we would be reading all these posts. We only have two wrists and I suspect that those who have many razors also may have more than a few watches also......

As we were told at college:
"An engineer can do for five bob what any fool can do for five quid"

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Originally Posted by welshwizard

As we were told at college:
"An engineer can do for five bob what any fool can do for five quid"

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For your American friends-whats the conversion rate?

I reckon you need the following:

- At least a 365 day rotation of razors
- A set of Naniwa hones
- A set of Shapton hones
- A set of Norton hones
- A 325 and 1200 DMT as a minimum
- Half a dozen strops of various leathers and fabrics
- A variety of pastes and sprays, not limited to CrOx and diamond
- At least one barber hone
- An Escher
- A coticule
- A Charnley Forest
- At least one J-Nat
- At least one brush
- Somewhere between half a dozen and a dozen soaps as a minimum
- A mug
- A paypal account
- A generous bank manager

That should see you right I reckon! :D

Seriously though, I agree with the OP. You really dont need a lot of kit to keep a razor up and running, a Norton 4/8 and a strop would be plenty.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Grizzley1

For your American friends-whats the conversion rate?

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Whatever sounds right in US dollars

Interestingly, when I was a kid, a half crown coin (two shillings and sixpence in pre-decimal currency) was often referred to as half a dollar.