Basic honing equipment

Hi All,

I just wanted to pop in and ask what you all thought is a good setup for basic honing. In other words when I just want to bring razors that I've purchased back to shave-ready after some time of use (I have a Dovo Classic for example that hasn't been honed in a year).

Now I did already buy some stuff. Here's what I got so far:

* Woodstock Japanese waterstone 1000/6000 grit
( Amazon.com: Woodstock D1130 1000 Grit and 6000 Grit Japanese Waterstone: Home & Garden )

*Dovo 2" wide strop
(basic one I actually got a while back when I got my first straight razor from vintagebladesllc)

* Red strop paste

*Illinois 3" wide strop with linen cloth
(this is my main strop now)

I intend to put the red paste on the Dovo strop and use that after I use the 6000 grit side of the Japanese waterstone.

Curious to what else you guys think I should get? I understand I should probably lap the stone when I get it before I use it for any honing. Do I also need a nagura stone (does anyone know)?

Thanks so much everyone, I'm really looking forward to project razors for myself. This is probably just the start I'm guessing :)

What hone(s) do I need? - Straight Razor Place Wiki

Thank you. While I understand, there's a lot of hones and hone choices and that article explains a fairly basic understanding of it all, I've also been reading other posts and threads and articles and watching videos online and offline.

It seems to me that it is recommended to hone on a finishing stone of some sort (I've seen that the Norton 4000/8000 can be considered a finishing stone and I figured I'd try the Japanese waterstone as my finishing stone).

I'm more curious I guess to as to what color pastes are needed after the finishing stone as this seems to be where most people recommend you go to next before the final strop. I got the red paste based on some basic descriptions from classic shaving. It seems red is used for a final sharpening and I wanted to find out if you guys thought that 6000 grit to stropping + red paste to final stropping is a good way to go for bringing a used razor back to shave ready?

dhatcher - Howdy!

If all you want to do is maintain a good edge on a well-honed razor, you probably shouldn't be going to the 1000/6000 waterstone at all. It's not necessary to take the grit down that low just to refresh an edge. All that will do is wear down your razor 10 times faster than it needs to be. 1000 grit will basically reset your bevel.

All you should need for simple maintenance work like that is an 8k+ stone. Barber hones are small and easy to find (check the Classified's - I saw a couple nice ones there), and it only takes a few stroke to bring your edge back up to snuff.

Alternately, I've heard good things about Naniwa finishing stones. You'd want to use at LEAST 8000 grit, but probably more if you want a nice finish. They sell them on Straight Razor Designs.

I'm not sure what to think about pastes. I'm a newbie too, but I've read conflicting stuff about pastes. I've read about lots of people using it, but I've also heard it rounds your bevel and makes it harder to hone in the future and the edges don't hold as long. So I'd do some more research on that.

From what I've read, you don't *need* to paste strop. A fine-grit finishing hone and a good regular strop will get you there.

Thank you Mistress. I've been thinking the 1000/6000 grit might be too much for a simple maintenance of an edge. I do intend to bring some other razors I have stored away back to their glory days which will require some more significant honing, so it's good I got that stone anyways, but I've been thinking of adding a Belgian coticule stone to the mix and using just the coticule + red paste & strop + final stropping for edge maintenance and using the 1000/6000 grit for the razors that need restoring.

A coticule would do it (actually, I've had success using the coticule for every step from bevel set to finish, but that's a whole different can of worms)...but they aren't really cheap.
The coticule is one of my go to hones, but there are plenty of ways to get a razor ready...

And mistress is right, you are probably not going to like the shave off of a 6k straight to strop (w/paste or otherwise).

all things considered, I'd suggest to send the razors to one of our resident honemeisters for a while so that you can get REALLY familiar over a period of time with what shave ready feels like.
If you start honing before you have stropping down, technique down, and know what you need your edge to be like in order to shave smoothly, you will not enjoy the results of your honing work.

Oh, and a shave ready edge can be maintained for ages on nothing but a barber hone.. just food for thought
All the best
Dave

Thanks Dave. I've actually been using my straight razor for about a year now. I have a pretty decent idea of what shave ready feels like as I had mine honed by Lynn when I bought it from vintagebladesllc before I received it. I probably will go the coticule method. Looks to be the most promising. :)