First Hone Set is Coming - Learning Tips?

[Geoface]

Since getting my first straight razor from Bucca and a second one from Seraphim, I've been obsessing over edges. So far both of the razors are treating me nice and I've been successful maintaining the edges on the strop.

I have several vintage razors sitting around that I want to get shave ready so I decided to purchase my first hone set-up. I ordered a King 1K and the Norton 4K/8K. From what I've read this is a great place to start and should hold me over for awhile.

I'll go to the local hardware store tomorrow and grab a polished stone tile so I can lap the stones when they arrive. If you have any pointers please fill me in. I'm looking forward to being fully shave supporting through my own contributions.

 

[Claudel Xerxes]

Congrats, and good luck! I'm still trying to get shaving with a straight down pat. I'm sure honing will be on my agenda soon, but for now, I'll leave it up to you gents! Best of wishes in your honing journey!

 

[slant81]

Since getting my first straight razor from Bucca and a second one from Seraphim, I've been obsessing over edges. So far both of the razors are treating me nice and I've been successful maintaining the edges on the strop.

I have several vintage razors sitting around that I want to get shave ready so I decided to purchase my first hone set-up. I ordered a King 1K and the Norton 4K/8K. From what I've read this is a great place to start and should hold me over for awhile.

I'll go to the local hardware store tomorrow and grab a polished stone tile so I can lap the stones when they arrive. If you have any pointers please fill me in. I'm looking forward to being fully shave supporting through my own contributions.

what are you planning on using for a finishing stone? I have the norton 4k / 8k as well. I have the c12k but haven't tried it yet. I have a coti on the way as well. Just trying to find the best way like you.

 

[buca3152]

If your looking to restore ebay blades, I would say that the king 1k may not be the best stone for it as they are slow and dish easily. BUT you can definitely use some 600 or 1k wet/dry sandpaper to get the rough work done. As long as you use it on a flat base, you should be fine. Then use the king to finish what you did with the wet/dry. The 4/8 is ok as well. I dont see a problem with it at all. Lapping is critical so make sure they are flat and good to go. Good luck and bring your questions/challenges here. We would love to help you!

 

[Steve56]

Use about 1/4 the pressure you initially think you should.

Cheers, Steve

 

[drifter]

I'll go to the local hardware store tomorrow and grab a polished stone tile so I can lap the stones when they arrive. If you have any pointers please fill me in. I'm looking forward to being fully shave supporting through my own contributions.

You could also use SIC powder I believe.

If your looking to restore ebay blades, I would say that the king 1k may not be the best stone for it as they are slow and dish easily. BUT you can definitely use some 600 or 1k wet/dry sandpaper to get the rough work done. As long as you use it on a flat base, you should be fine. Then use the king to finish what you did with the wet/dry. The 4/8 is ok as well. I dont see a problem with it at all. Lapping is critical so make sure they are flat and good to go. Good luck and bring your questions/challenges here. We would love to help you!

I'm curious about SIC powder for lapping stones, if I'm not mistaken I read on the other Forums somewhere that you use SIC powder to lap stones with. More info please.

 

[Gamma]

King 1k works fine for setting bevels. While it is a slower softer soaker stone, they do work well.
Slurried, they're fast enough and when learning, the absence of speed can be helpful.
If the budget is finite, for the price, I don't know that there's a better 1k option out there.
For about 2-3x the cost, a Shapton Pro 1.5x is harder and faster.
Im not a fan of the King, mostly because I don't like the feedback, for me it's too gritty. And it takes a long time to dry out.
But - I had one and used it and it worked very well and for 20 bucks I was setting bevels easily.

 

[SliceOfLife]

Im not a fan of the King, mostly because I don't like the feedback, for me it's too gritty.

Yeah, the king stone has a lot of problems for me. Gritty, long soak, long dry, fast dish. Edge isn't comparable to other 1k stones. Speed didn't really bother me much.

BUT for $20, you'll have a hard time beating it, and if you don't have another stone to compare it to, you may not even become aware of these problems. It'll just be part of honing for you. No need to replace it until you want something better on one of those fronts. So basically I agree with what Keith said, but the gritty really stood out to me, as that's the thing I dislike the most about the King.


I would say you need to buy a finer stone than the Norton 8k to finish on. Some people are happy with Norton 8k shaves, but a clear majority aren't. I myself find them awful. I'd shave with a DE before I'd ever shave off a Norton 8k. The cheap and easy method people have used for years now is green Chromox (~0.5micron) paste on a strip of balsa (a balsa "strop"), a half dozen to fifteen stropping motions will refine the edge off 8k enough to make it a competent shaver. I'd honestly skip that myself and just buy a very small coticule. I've snagged a couple 5x1" off eBay under $35 in the past few months; and TSS has sold a number of size 6 bouts that were ~1x5-6" for $40 in the same period. You could also check the site that sells Apache Strata; and keep your eyes open. Their pricing method seems unusual to me; but if you see a stone you'd feel comfortable honing on under $60, it may be worth grabbing. If you're going over $60, I'd look for a small (5-7") Escher. The celebrated stones (5x1" boxed and labeled) still sell as cheap as $60-70 some times (other times they go for $125, just have to bide your time). 10k+ JIS rated synthetics are good options as well, but some people dislike the way they feel during the shave, so you may want to consider a natural as your first stone. Then of course you could snag 1 micron film and read up on Seraphims technique (I'm sure he'll tell you exactly what he did with your razor) if you liked how his razor shaved on arrival.

Don't buy into the "cheap big stone" addiction that people have where they drop $30-50 on a mediocre or downright poor stone to finish on just because it's a big slab and that makes it a good deal. Finishing a razor isn't hard and doesn't require a lot of real estate if the stone is of good quality.


All that aside, as for actual advice... there's not much. Do your best to develop an understanding of how the progression is going. You may have to initially just guess or hope you're done on the 4k before moving to the 8k; but never fall into that habit. Check the edge in whatever ways make sense to you, because learning to hone the razor amounts to gaining an understanding of progression and ways to recognize it; so that you can become more efficient and more reliably successful as your skill develops. I think a lot of people tend to rely on luck and guesswork for far too long in their honing.

 

[buca3152]

King is the only stone I REALLY disliked. SLOW, dishes VERY fast, and you have to soak it for 30 minutes and even after that you may as well hone in the bathtub. . I would rather use a sheet of 1k grit sandpaper. I soaked mine and let it explode overnight on a freezing night. I didnt photograph it but should have.

 

[Geoface]

The King was only $13.99 and I need to be as frugal as possible. I read that it worked so figured it would be a good stone to try and learn on.



These are two vintage stones I have lying around from antique stores. They are both extremely smooth. The one with the paddle is an American Water Hone, Peabody Mass. The other stone I don't know anything about. It needs to be lapped, not sure if it's good for razors or not but it is smooth and has a reddish color. Don't know if they are usable, I would try and work with them if they are. If not I'll just keep 'em on display.

 

[Gamma]

Gotta start somewhere.. frugal is a good way to start.
I started with the King and the Norton combo, I learned how to set bevels on those two stones actually.
I am not a fan of either, but I'm real glad I started with them.
I learned a lot by using them and FWIW - some people really like the King 1k, and not just because it's cheap.

 

[Avenolpey]

I hope you realize you will be taking both the Buca and Seraphim edges way, way back on a Norton 8k. Why not get a nice finisher and learn to maintain those wonderful edges.

Vintage razors are not so easy. I wish I had spent less on hopeful EBay or antique store razors which too often have issues I lacked the skill to diagnose and mitigate. Another Buca or Seraphim would be much easier and more enjoyable. Other fine shave ready razors are very affordable.

 

[Gamma]

I like the looks of that paddle..... very cool.

 

[Geoface]

I hope you realize you will be taking both the Buca and Seraphim edges way, way back on a Norton 8k. Why not get a nice finisher and learn to maintain those wonderful edges.

Vintage razors are not so easy. I wish I had spent less on hopeful EBay or antique store razors which too often have issues I lacked the skill to diagnose and mitigate. Another Buca or Seraphim would be much easier and more enjoyable. Other fine shave ready razors are very affordable.

I'm not going to touch buca's or seraphim's razors or any other shave ready edges, maybe maintenance as you suggest on a decent finisher.

I want to learn though so I've got to start somewhere with something. What did you notice with antiques? Can you put an edge on them now?

 

[Geoface]

I like the looks of that paddle..... very cool.

I got a PM from a member and they think it is an old Thuri and should work as a finishing stone. It's pretty small, maybe 1" x 6".

 

[Gamma]

It very well could be a Thuri, whatever it is - I think it's probably a good razor finisher.