Thread: When does honing end and paste stropping begin?

If you had a 16k stone you wouldnt need pastes. IMO

Originally Posted by nun2sharp

If you had a 16k stone you wouldnt need pastes. IMO

best advice yet.

I think it depends on what you want to do with getting the optimum sharpness/smoothness out of the razor that suits your preference. I personally know world class honers who find no problem with honing through say 12 or 16k and then gilding the lily with paste. I know one who used to use the norton set, 1k, 4k, 8k and then final finish on diamond paste on balsa. His razors were as sharp as any I've ever seen.

My approach has been to really want to learn to get the most out of the hones without the addition of pastes. I've got them. Chrom-ox, diamond paste and spray on hanging felt, paddle and balsa. I've experimented with them and , following the stones they are good. I was on a mission though and wanted to really learn to hone so I pretty much avoided the paste/spray and kept working the hones.

I was getting fairly good results my first year or two but was more or less following by rote without "knowing" what I was doing. After 5 to 6 years of messing with it I feel like now I know what I'm doing with the hones and the bonus for me is I'm happy with the results I get with the hones alone.

For the end user who isn't looking at honing with stones as the 'holy grail,'but just wants a sharp/smooth shaving edge, I would say a chosera 1k for bevel setting, the norton 4/8 for sharpening and finishing and whatever pastes/sprays and see if that gives you the satisfactory edge. Throw in a D8C DMT 325 diamond plate for lapping the stones.

So IMO it depends on what the goal is. I would definitely learn to hone with stones though. Kind of like jazz musician Charlie "Yardbird" Parker said, "Master your instrument, then forget all that stuff and play."