Which honing stone to use as a "barber's hone"

[NewBlader]

I'm a newbie straight shaver. I've already dulled a blade with about 30 shaves. I understand it's pretty common for newbies to put excessive wear on their blades, through clumsy technique of shaving or stropping or both (I'm sure I'm clumsy on both).

I also realize now, I don't need to learn how to become a honing expert, but I do need to be able to do touch-up honing. Anyone who is a regular straight shaver probably needs this.

I asked the question here before about what to get to use as a "barber's hone". Everyone recommends getting a "barber's hone" but that doesn't tell what, exactly, I should buy.

I got a few recommendations, ranging from coticules to other things, but it seems like Naniwa hones are the simplest choice. Again, I don't want to spend a lot of time and effort learning them, so a synthetic, highly predictable stone like Naniwa sounds good. And it gets good reviews.

Now my question is, which grit of Naniwa do I need to get? I'm only going to ever use this as a barber's hone, for doing touch-ups. If it needs more than that, I'll leave it to the experts. I'm never going to try to buy worn-out blades on Ebay and get them shave-ready. I'm way too busy for such hobbies. My feeling is I would rather go with a finer grit than a coarser grit, because a finer grit is going to be less likely to do damage, right?

Also, I also understand that a hone needs to be lapped occasionally, and the easy way to do that is with sandpaper on a flat surface (counter top). Which grit sandpaper would I use for that?

Thanks

[FiveOhNine]

Barber hones are vintage items made by the likes of Swaty, Apart, Itsapeech, Norton, Panama, et. al. When someone says 'get a barber hone', they don't mean buy a naniwa, shapton, or any other currently produced synthetic stone.

If you've decided you want naniwa, and only care about maintaining the already sharp edge, you probably want a 10k+ stone. i think Naniwa makes 10k and 12k IIRC. Either one of those will suit you well.:thumbup1:

[NewBlader]

Ah thanks for the explanation. At this point I don't want to get a vintage stone. Too unpredictable, too much hassle finding one. I want to get one thing that I know will be the right thing. I guess the 10k Naniwa seems reasonable.

[Legion]

Anything ~12k mark will do the job for you. When people say "barbers hone", they were called that because they were fine, small hones that the barber could keep in his pocket just for touch ups. They were fast, but I found them a bit fiddly to use when I started, because of their small size.

A naniwa will work, or a C-Nat (as I will now be calling the C12k), or even just CrO on a bench strop (which is probably the easiest option.)

[Tak]

I've seen and read a good bit that says pasted strops work just as well for touch ups, though they're less suited to restoring a proper edge. Had you considered pastes? If so, mind sharing your thoughts on why you're opting for the stone instead? I'm planning out for a similar touch-up hone myself, and am leaning towards pasting the fabric strop on a Star Shaving Big Daddy if it really is a viable alternative to the expensive stones.

I apologize for having nothing but more questions for your questions, but maybe something new to both of us will come out of it :)

[NewBlader]

I just ordered the Naniwa 10k. I hope that's the right thing to use. I might keep an eye open for vintage barber's hones for travel use, but I would prefer something new and synthetic, so it's predictable and easy to use. Is there a modern, synthetic type of barber's hone? I do travel a lot.


I've seen and read a good bit that says pasted strops work just as well for touch ups, though they're less suited to restoring a proper edge. Had you considered pastes?

I did consider that.


If so, mind sharing your thoughts on why you're opting for the stone instead?

The stones seem more predictable for us beginners. A strop has more variables, including flex etc. A stone is a flat, hard surface. And the grit is known, unlike with a pasted strop where you don't know how much paste exactly you have on it. At least that's my intuitive idea on it, could be totally wrong because I'm totally a beginner at this. I'll try various things and see what works, get rid of what doesn't work.

I did have a balsa "strop" with 0.25 micro diamond paste and that seemed to help a little but the blade still ended up dull after a month.


I'm planning out for a similar touch-up hone myself, and am leaning towards pasting the fabric strop on a Star Shaving Big Daddy if it really is a viable alternative to the expensive stones.

Yeah, it could work fine, but I just didn't achieve much with the diamond paste. Could be wrong paste, wrong stropping, wrong something else, I don't know.


I apologize for having nothing but more questions for your questions, but maybe something new to both of us will come out of it :)

It's fine, I have mainly questions myself! I'm just happy that I'm getting some good shaves now.

[Legion]

I've seen and read a good bit that says pasted strops work just as well for touch ups, though they're less suited to restoring a proper edge. Had you considered pastes? If so, mind sharing your thoughts on why you're opting for the stone instead? I'm planning out for a similar touch-up hone myself, and am leaning towards pasting the fabric strop on a Star Shaving Big Daddy if it really is a viable alternative to the expensive stones.

I apologize for having nothing but more questions for your questions, but maybe something new to both of us will come out of it :)

My advice, for what it's worth. Pastes work well for touching up an edge that is just fading, or as a final step in honing to take the sharpness up to 11. They wont restore an edge too well if it is gone completely. What I recommend though, especially if you are new, use the CrO on a paddle or bench strop rather than a hanging one. Incorrect stropping on pastes can wipe out, or just slowly roll your edge. Better to have it on a flat stable surface.

Used like this, if you start with a good edge, I see no reason why pastes couldn't keep it that way for ages.

[FiveOhNine]

I just ordered the Naniwa 10k. I hope that's the right thing to use. I might keep an eye open for vintage barber's hones for travel use, but I would prefer something new and synthetic, so it's predictable and easy to use. Is there a modern, synthetic type of barber's hone? I do travel a lot.

If it were me, travelling, I wouldn't want to spend a lot of time fixing the edge; I would probably get a vintage barber's hone. True, there are many different variations, but within a 'brand', I think they are quite predictable. Plus, you're probably looking at a $25-35 investment, so not a lot of sleep lost as long as you do your research and find a respectable brand.

[NewBlader]

If it were me, travelling, I wouldn't want to spend a lot of time fixing the edge; I would probably get a vintage barber's hone. True, there are many different variations, but within a 'brand', I think they are quite predictable. Plus, you're probably looking at a $25-35 investment, so not a lot of sleep lost as long as you do your research and find a respectable brand.

I might look for one. I just don't want to spend a lot of time messing around with Ebay and researching various old brands. I would rather just buy one new, predictable thing. One option, if I get good results with the Naniwa, is to get a second Naniwa and cut it in half for travel use maybe. Or I've seen I can get small size coticule stones for not much money, maybe that would be a reasonable travel option.

I do travel quite a bit.

[Loric]

A small coticule would work, and you could also do some real razor work should you ever felt like experimenting. For what its wroth my coticule is hands down the most interesting hone I have used. However, if you still just wanted a "modern barbers hone" you should consider a Spyderco Ultra Fine. They are next to diamond hard and never need lapping. You can also get them in several sizes (8x3, 8x2, and I think I saw a 5x1), and they are also relatively cheep. Just remember it wont fix a dull blade, but if you do some laps once ever 5~7 shaves it should stay ahead of the wear and keep your razor sharp. Just dont let it get to dull.

How do you like the Naniwa? At first I did not like mine, but the more I use it the more I like it.

[Neurotopia]

If you want something to travel with I highly recommend a #4, 5, or 6 coticule bout. Don't fuss too much over what vein or all that jazz. Just grab one that looks like it would travel well and be comfy in the hand. 30 light circles or half-X strokes per side on water when it starts to pull, you'll be good to go.

A barber's hone would be good for travel if you can find one. Nanis probably don't travel well and are a bit large for that.

[PapaFish]

Contact Larry over at WhippedDog.com and see what he has for barber's hones. He usually has something that would work well for traveling for under $30.
If ordering from Larry, you can also look into the Poor Man's Strop Kit, it comes with a CrOx and IronOx pasted balsa strop that work well to maintain a sharp edge, but will not restore a really worn edge. The CrOx gives a nice smooth shave, and the IronOx glides right through.
You can also look into getting a Spyderco Ultra Fine. These work like a 12,000 grit stone and with stropping, will deliver a very nice shave. People refer to them as a "Modern Barber's Hone" because they do such a good job at touching up razors and are very low maintenance. They also can be used dry, and they really don't need to be flattened, ever (as long as you aren't super serious about maintaining a lot of people's razors, or as long as you don't break it).

[taffy]

No expert here, when I started off I got a vintage barbers hone from the bay, I was not to impressed at first, but with experiance found it touched up my razors fine, I also got a c12K later on, this was also fine, but found it took more strokes, I also have a coti which works fine, plus you can go further with a coti and actually hone a razor, though I find that for touch ups nowadays I use the barbers hone.

[NewBlader]

My Naniwa 12k is here. I'll try it out soon. Any suggestions for starting with it?

[Neurotopia]

Lap it before using it.

[Tak]

Really curious to read your experiences with honing. Please do keep us posted.

[Drybonz]

I just ordered the Naniwa 10k.

You should be fine with that, although there are a lot of other options, as your wallet will soon discover.

[NewBlader]

Really curious to read your experiences with honing. Please do keep us posted.

I now have a Naniwa 12k (I switched the order from 10k to 12k).

I did try it on my stainless DOVO. I put water on it and did about 8 laps, using only the weight of the blade for pressure. I honestly don't know if it made any difference or not. I might try it again to see if it helps. I suspect my stropping is also bad. Too many variables at this point for me to know what's going on.

Any touch-up honing technique recommendations? How should I best use this Naniwa 12k?

[PhatMan]

NewBlader,

+1 on PapaFishs' suggestion of the Spyderco Ultra Fine.

I use my mine as a 'modern day barber hone' with great success :smile:

If you need a little more bite, you can spritz the Spyderco with some 0.5 or 0.25 micron diamond spray.

Have fun !

Best regards

Russ

[California Cajun]

I'm a newbie straight shaver. I've already dulled a blade with about 30 shaves. I understand it's pretty common for newbies to put excessive wear on their blades, through clumsy technique of shaving or stropping or both (I'm sure I'm clumsy on both).

I also realize now, I don't need to learn how to become a honing expert, but I do need to be able to do touch-up honing. Anyone who is a regular straight shaver probably needs this.

I asked the question here before about what to get to use as a "barber's hone". Everyone recommends getting a "barber's hone" but that doesn't tell what, exactly, I should buy.

I got a few recommendations, ranging from coticules to other things, but it seems like Naniwa hones are the simplest choice. Again, I don't want to spend a lot of time and effort learning them, so a synthetic, highly predictable stone like Naniwa sounds good. And it gets good reviews.

Now my question is, which grit of Naniwa do I need to get? I'm only going to ever use this as a barber's hone, for doing touch-ups. If it needs more than that, I'll leave it to the experts. I'm never going to try to buy worn-out blades on Ebay and get them shave-ready. I'm way too busy for such hobbies. My feeling is I would rather go with a finer grit than a coarser grit, because a finer grit is going to be less likely to do damage, right?

Also, I also understand that a hone needs to be lapped occasionally, and the easy way to do that is with sandpaper on a flat surface (counter top). Which grit sandpaper would I use for that?

Thanks

If you get 30 shaves between honings, I'd say you're an expert.