Dual Purpose?

I have been making/sharpening knives for some time and am new to Straight shaving. As such I have an interest in learning to hone razors, fully realizing that is a very different game.

Do those of you sharpen knives and hone razors use the same stones, or would it be beneficial to have a separate set for the razors due to the very different techniques/wear patterns on the hones?

I am also aware that is unlikely to ever use a 8000 on most any knife due to the lack of need for that polished of an edge but I figure that some of the lower grits would overlap nicely. To learn to hone razors I have picked up a well worn Shumate to practice on and am looking for more.

Thank you for the answers.

Charlie

You can have an overlap in your hones as far as purpose.
I've been honing knives long before i can even grow a beard, and i've learned that a useful edge on a knife isn't the sharpest edge you can put on it. However you might need coarser stones for your razors, but only occasionaly.

I'd suggest something like this for all honing purposes:
DMT:
-D8XC (optional)
-D8C (fix razor chips, cracks...)
-D8F
-D8EF (razor bevel setter)

and from there you can either get something like a 4k/8k, a coticule, BBW, ect. to put a razor edge on it.
With that you can sharpen anything from kitchen knives to a straight razor.

dnullify,

Thanks for the reply. You are right, razor edges on working knives don't often last very long. I pretty much have the courser stones covered now and am looking at adding the higher grit stones for the razors. However since I'm looking at doing some restorations I figure the med/lower grits will work for removing chips and setting the bevel.

Thanks,

Charles

You can certainly overlap, and I have many stones that see both knives and razors.

An important thing to keep in mind-
Knives will dish a stone quickly, but are less dependent on a flat stone than razors. Razors will dish a stone slowly, but really need a dead flat stone.

ouch said:

You can certainly overlap, and I have many stones that see both knives and razors.

An important thing to keep in mind-
Knives will dish a stone quickly, but are less dependent on a flat stone than razors. Razors will dish a stone slowly, but really need a dead flat stone.

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Currently I have some nice Arkansas stones I'm using for sharpening knives and just purchased a 1500 grit waterstone (bought with razor honing in mind for restoration). I figure that this 1500 grit waterstone would in all essence be as high as I would ever go for a regular knife since I've got a breat black arkansas that really polishes up a knife edge well as well as a pasted leather strop I use to finish knives.

Above the 1500 would pretty much be simply for razors and restoration. I'm looking at a 4k and 8k. Reading conflicting advice as to whether I need anything higher than that before pasted strops and then leather.

Thanks,

Charles

CharlieTN said:

Currently I have some nice Arkansas stones I'm using for sharpening knives and just purchased a 1500 grit waterstone (bought with razor honing in mind for restoration). I figure that this 1500 grit waterstone would in all essence be as high as I would ever go for a regular knife since I've got a breat black arkansas that really polishes up a knife edge well as well as a pasted leather strop I use to finish knives.

Above the 1500 would pretty much be simply for razors and restoration. I'm looking at a 4k and 8k. Reading conflicting advice as to whether I need anything higher than that before pasted strops and then leather.

Thanks,

Charles

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You shouldn't need anything higher than an 8k or a coticule. I don't think higher grits even existed, and yet people shaved just fine.
And if you need something finer, you can get that later as well.

Finishing after an 8k with pasts vs. finishing hones (shap 15-30k or a Spyderco UF) both leave different finishes which yield different shaves. if you've got some CrOx or even daimond pastes you can give that a shot once you've got a 4k/8k, if you don't like it then you can get a finishing stone

if you get a coticule, you can use it all the way to a finished edge.

I got as good a shave today from a 8k nani edge, that I think I won't even use my coti. And I know that I am far from the maximum this stone is capable of, thats the best thing about it There are no magic hones, the hands do the magic.