Thread: How many of you guys hone your own straights?

Originally Posted by mdob74

Hello Eastexasman. I am also looking at a coticule and slurry stone for honing and wondering what you have achieved from that set up. Do you require a workbench or any old table will do? Thank you and beat regards.

If your razor was correctly sharpened once you should be able to maintain it
on a coticule and slurry stone for a long time. The slurry stone is optional...

Rinse the coticule with clear water and rub any dusty bits off that may have settled
and give it five up/down hone strokes once a week. For a home shaver you only need
to lap the hone close to flat once... A little bit of dishing (half the thickness of a dime or less)
will give a micro bevel that some like me like. Others will not tolerate it.

Originally Posted by TristanLudlow

Pretty happy with the progression, I like to sharpen things, I've got a humble razor collection and when all my razors are honed I'm a little lost since I just wanna sharpen more razors.

This is my issue too. I don't want to hone something that don't need it so I keep buying more razors. Its a vicious circle. And now my collection is getting a little bit beyond humble. LOL.

Originally Posted by niftyshaving

If your razor was correctly sharpened once you should be able to maintain it
on a coticule and slurry stone for a long time. The slurry stone is optional...

Rinse the coticule with clear water and rub any dusty bits off that may have settled
and give it five up/down hone strokes once a week. For a home shaver you only need
to lap the hone close to flat once... A little bit of dishing (half the thickness of a dime or less)
will give a micro bevel that some like me like. Others will not tolerate it.

Thanks so much for the response. I have several sharp razors that are ready to be maintained and I believe set a good starting point. I went ahead and ordered a 50cm × 190cm bout coticule which I hope to do the trick. It comes lapped and with a slurry stone. I'm really looking forward to the process of maintaining my own stock of straights.

Nasdrowe

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It's just sharpening right?

As my friend and a Senior Moderator here GSSIXGUN has as his signature:

"No amount of money spent on a Stone can ever replace the value of the time it takes learning to use it properly"
Very Respectfully - Glen

I have been honing mine myself with a Norton 4/8k, with pretty good results. That being said, my vintage razors get sent away.

i hone my own razors. i go through the standard naniwa progression.

Aloha!

Honing is only a part of straight razor use. If someone does not wish to get involved with honing, that's fine.

Personally, I went DECADES without honing from bevel-set. I sent my razors out for ground-up honing, and I had nothing more than a barber hone for touch-ups, but no complete honing until fairly recently. That did not mean I was not a serious straight razor man. I've been using a straight since I was 18 and that was many decades ago. Just because I did not hone from bevel-set did not mean I was not a serious user of straight razors. My grandfather never owned a complete set of hones. He had a barber hone and a strop for his entire life. Many gents "back in the day" took their straights to a barber for touch-ups and functioned with only a strop at home. Nothing wrong with that.

-Zip

I started honing as soon as I started using straight razors. I wanted to learn how to get a better shave and have always been one to not want to depend on anyone else for my day-to-day operations so I learned to hone as well with the help of several outstanding people. I suspect many people learn how to hone for the same reason

I never intended to learn to hone. I shaved with one straight (a new Theirs Issard) for several years. Planned to send it out every few years to be tweaked. Used an occasional pasted strop and then eventually I bought a Naniwa 10K for touch up. Then the TI stopped holding an edge. I sent it out to be honed by a master honer. Wasn't happy with the results. Shaved with it for a while and sent it to another master honer. Wasn't happy with that edge either. Bought a Norton 4K/8K and a junk Sheffield razor off e-bay and taught myself to hone. With just these two hones (the Norton and Naniwa) and a pasted strop I can now restore 100+ year old razors from bevel set through to a great shave. More importantly, I enjoy the process.

Part of the fun is honing.

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