General questions

So I have some very nice steel knives and recently purchased a Spyderco Sharpmaker for keeping them sharpened. I also will be getting a strop as well. I have been using safety razors for a while and I have been thinking about transitioning to a straight razor.

My question is about equipment. Is there any equipment (sharpener, hones, strops, otherwise) that is universal between the two? Any information is greatly appreciated.

When I was starting I tried to use the fine rods from the sharpmaker on a razor. Don't bother. Not fine enough and the skinnyness makes it almost impossible to keep the blade fat on the hone, especially when you are new.


Generally, the lower (for razors) grit stones are the same ones that you use for knives. The difference being, what is just starting grits for razors are finishing grits for knives. To give you an idea, I usually take my knives up to ~1k. That will easily shave the hair off my arm, a great edge on a knife. With a razor 1k is just used to set the bevel. We haven't even started honing yet! I hone a razor up to 12k, and then go to pastes, which are like 30k!

Razors are a whole different type of sharp.

Thanks for the response legion.

2-3 years back, I bought a King 1000x water-stone to sharpen my kitchen knives. Now I find that I'm using it to set the bevel on those rusty flea-market straight-razor finds as well. (This is carbon steel I'm talking about in both cases, rather than stainless.) I believe legion can verify that a continuous 600x diamond hone can also be useful for setting the bevel on razors, and it certainly will work as an all-around sharpener for pocket knives and the like--1200x as well. As far as finalizing things is concerned, a 4000x water-stone or Belgian blue whetstone is sometimes advanced as the absolute ticket for knives; and with knowledge and experience, the Belgian blue is on rare occasions alleged to be a finisher for razors before moving on to the pastes. Beyond this, my limited understanding is that the two paths diverge. Yes, there are bench strops and chromium oxide paste (crox) for plane knives and chisels following, say, a 6000x or 8000x water stone, but the strop is often much shorter, narrower, and rougher than what is used for shaving. Crox, on the other hand, might be able to be used for chisels, plane knives, and razors, whereas kitchen knives would top out at around 4000x. Indeed, many would say that it is best to leave a kitchen knife at around 1000x, so as to profit from the minute serrations that are left behind there, rather than a "polished" razor's edge.