Thread: How often should you hone your razor?

Simply put, how often should you hone your razor?

Hone your razor when it feels like it is no longer providing a clean comfortable shave after stropping it. I don't have a set schedule; I just go by how the razor feels. I am able to hone mine to a shave-ready state. I usually touch up the razor with a few strokes on a strop linen that has been rubbed with chromium oxide. I also touch up my razors with a few strokes on a Belgian coticule stone. Both approaches work well for me.

If you get yourself a hard pasted strop, and there are some for sale in the classifieds made out of balsa wood, and use Chromium Oxide on it when stropping your blade does not produce a nice edge then use the pasted strop. Usually about 20 laps, then the plane lined about 30 laps, then your strop, about 50 laps. That will normally bring your razor back to shaving condition. When this doesn't work anymore, then you need to have it honed. Depending on your beard the time period can be from 2 to 6 months.

Hope this helps,

Ray

You have to define "Hone" first

Touch up or full hone

Do you let it get dull or are you one to go to the stones as soon as it pulls..

Hollow or Wedge or in between...

Simply put there is no way to ever answer that question accurately


The general consensus is about every three months (which doesn't mean a thing)

Oh yeah, even if you figure it out for you, this year, it will change next year, because you will be better at stropping and shaving by then...

I hone my razors when they will not hold an edge as long as they did when I last honed it. I use pastes and can usually get about 10 days of excellent shaves out of a particular razor. When I can no longer get 7 days then it is time for me to drop back a bit and get a little more aggressive and that usually means dropping back to a Coticule. Every razor is going to be slightly different in this aspect because of steel quality, size of the razor and how your stropping skills are.


Take Care,
Richard