Thread: Noob wants to keep an edge on his blade. Pastes? Hones?

I suggest getting a 1k/4k norton, and then a finisher. Reason being, you need a stone to set bevels quick and confidently (1k) then you need a finer sharpener (4k) then you need a finisher. And in that category, you can have some fun picking one out shapton, kitayama, naniwa, coticule(be careful, natural stones are harder to learn on sometimes)

you should just assess your needs, and then decide for yourself. if you already have a professionally sharpened blade, then why bother with 1k when you dont actually need to reset bevels. All you need is a touch up to maintain it.

If you plan hone blunt razors, then go for the more extensive setup people suggested. the important thing is to get to know your tools and use them to their potential.

On the topic of barber stones...

I recently bought a Swaty from eBay. It was a dark chocolate colored hone. As per the instructions on Lynns DVD I used a little water and only 5 careful laps.

Here's the thing. My stropping has really come along (although my strop has the scars to prove my learning curve was steep...). I used the Swaty then did 40 passes on the linen and then the strop and shaved...

While the shave was smoother, it was by no means smooth and I still get a loud 'toast scrapping' sound as well as some pulling. The razor I'm using is a professionally honed one and I'm thinking perhaps I dulled the edge beyond the capabilities of a baber hone. I've ordered the Chromium Oxide paste from SRD but in the meantime I'm wondering do I need to go to the coticule route now or what?

Cheers

Originally Posted by drgreen

you should just assess your needs, and then decide for yourself. if you already have a professionally sharpened blade, then why bother with 1k when you dont actually need to reset bevels. All you need is a touch up to maintain it.

If you plan hone blunt razors, then go for the more extensive setup people suggested. the important thing is to get to know your tools and use them to their potential.

That's a good summary, IMHO.

There's some material on "honing cycles" on Whipped Dog Straight Razor Sales.

There are many reports of people who keep razors sharp _forever_ (or at least for many years) with just pastes and a barber hone. That setup works if you start with a sharp blade.

If you want to work on old razors, the game changes. The 220/1000 and 4000/8000 Nortons suddenly make good sense.

Charles

I'll put in my two cents two I guess. Personally I am a paste person and for the most part I can use different types of paste to keep my razors honed and the only stone I need is a bevel setting stone. While this works for me I know it is not for everyone.

If you wanted to use stones to keep your razor shave ready really the only stone you need is a 4k/8k Norton stone. You can set the bevel of a blade on the 4k side of the stone as well as use the 4k to polish the edge up some. Then you would use the 8k to finish polishing the edge and make it shave ready. If you ask alot of the older guys on here this is how they did it for years. Before getting into the higher end stones of 12k/30k man made stones and the natural stones.

What I would suggest for now is to get some .5 micron crox and apply to basla wood to maintain your edge and then get the norton 4k/8k to do the heavy work. Also work on you your stropping with good stropping you can really extend the life of your edge a very long time without needing paste or a stone.