help needed honing.

ok, so I have a couple of Straights on their way

I could send them out to be honed like I did my J.R Torrey but I think it's time I learn to do it myself.
there are a gazillion options and yes I have read the wiki articles from B & B on honing, still that leaves plenty of questions as to what to get what will not dry up the wallet like the razors did.

so , where to start? Whipped dog has a 1/4 norton set @$60.

or I can get these.

• Straight Razor Hone Stone Slurry Water Whetstone Yellow Knife Sharpener 3000Grit $10

  Size: L 10cm x W 3cm x H 1cm
• Stone Material: natural chinese water stone, 3000grit
• Fits all my straight razors and other knives made by metal.
• 1 Hone stone

Click to expand...

or

LAVODA Professional Sharpening Stone Knife / Razor Waterstone , 8000 Grit $26

• 8000# for refined sharpening
• Equipped with silica gel non-slip base
• Guarantee the safety sharpening
• 7.09" x 2.36"x 0.59" (180mm x 60mm x 15mm)
• High-grade whetstone ensure effective sharpening results

Click to expand...

Have you considered lapping film? Little to no special mojo, but your razor will be kept sharp, for little $$.

My advice would be to not skimp on the stones or you will, for nearly 100% sure, regret it and maybe even quit in frustration.

I would recommend King and Shapton for relatively inexpensive yet still high quality synths.

Or film, which has a huge thread devoted to it.

Natural stones are my preferred option but they will require a lot more research on your part to beavle to make a good choice. They can be less expensive than a synth set but you need to know what to look for, and the learning curve is steeper.

On a strict budget I would have to say your best bet is probably to spend the money on a good bevel setter and then check out film. I don't use it myself but some people swear by it.

Lmarkow said:

Have you considered lapping film? Little to no special mojo, but your razor will be kept sharp, for little $$.

Click to expand...

stoop said:

My advice would be to not skimp on the stones or you will, for nearly 100% sure, regret it and maybe even quit in frustration.

I would recommend King and Shapton for relatively inexpensive yet still high quality synths.

Or film, which has a huge thread devoted to it.

Natural stones are my preferred option but they will require a lot more research on your part to beavle to make a good choice. They can be less expensive than a synth set but you need to know what to look for, and the learning curve is steeper.

On a strict budget I would have to say your best bet is probably to spend the money on a good bevel setter and then check out film. I don't use it myself but some people swear by it.

Click to expand...

missed the film thread, link would be nice. first I hear of a bevel setter as well.

If this is the first you have heard of a bevel setter, no offense but my advice would be that you have a lot more reading to do before buying anything.

stoop said:

If this is the first you have heard of a bevel setter, no offense but my advice would be that you have a lot more reading to do before buying anything.

Click to expand...

trying to read more about it, no offence taken, decided to start asking questions since I did hit a minor wall with all the options out there. I do get there are stones to set the bevel, just wondering if I missed something else. 1K grit is what I see some using.

jkcerda said:

trying to read more about it, no offence taken, decided to start asking questions since I did hit a minor wall with all the options out there.

Click to expand...

Yep that's the problem - lots and lots of options

Have you read in the honing subforum yet? tons of great info there!

stoop said:

Yep that's the problem - lots and lots of options

Have you read in the honing subforum yet? tons of great info there!

Click to expand...

I am in there right now, been reading mostly from the phone, so things get tedious and I miss things here & there. hence the reason for the thread.

your best bet on a budget is most likely going to be film.

but in all honesty if all you wanna do is keep your rotation in shaving shape, you could just get a finisher and send out razors that need major work.(repairs, etc)

there are plenty of good options for the finisher category depending on your budget.

runninscared said:

your best bet on a budget is most likely going to be film.

but in all honesty if all you wanna do is keep your rotation in shaving shape, you could just get a finisher and send out razors that need major work.(repairs, etc)

there are plenty of good options for the finisher category depending on your budget.

Click to expand...

Another fine option for sure, along with a glass plate and sandpaper to lap it. If touchups are all you care about a nice finisher is all you need.

But to be honest I've ended up resetting the bevel on all of my razors, even ones bought with good edges. YMMV.

found
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/283576-Lapping-film-try-it/page2

There's always a coticule. That's the route I went. I'm new at straight razors and I've been happy with the results from my coticule. Granted I've honed only once with it(had a good edge until I ruined it on my strop). I can see chromium oxide in the future though. Just for that extra touch.

Btw, I bought a #8 bout for ~$50 over at the superior shave.

I'm by no means telling you which way to go, as waterstone produce a keener edge from what I read, and I'm also new and in no position to steer you in any direction. I just thought I throw out the idea of a Belgian coticule and let you do the research if you'd like.

If you need to minimize cost, lapping film is hard to beat.

In the synthetic line, a King 1k, 3k/8k Naniwa combo, and Naniwa 12k finisher would work fine and not break the bank.

In naturals, a King 1k + a coticule or JNat koppa would likely be the cheapest route.

I would caution against the cheapest synthetic stones you can find, you're likely to end up with muddy mess knife hones and you'll really need to re-buy your hones. Razor hones need to be on the hard side to keep the bevels flat and have a narrow range of grit.

Cheers, Steve

Two basic paths with many many sub paths inside each one. Natural stones or Synthetic. Then decide sub path. Coticule, Arks, Thuringian, Jnat are all very capable ways of achieving stellar edges from naturals. Naniwa, Shapton, film are all very capable of achieving stellar edges from synthetics. Both have a learning curve with most agreeing that synthetics have a shorter easier curve. I prefer naturals, but that is meaningless because others prefer synthetics. Read all you can before you decide which way to go.

Brianskeet said:

Two basic paths with many many sub paths inside each one. Natural stones or Synthetic. Then decide sub path. Coticule, Arks, Thuringian, Jnat are all very capable ways of achieving stellar edges from naturals. Naniwa, Shapton, film are all very capable of achieving stellar edges from synthetics. Both have a learning curve with most agreeing that synthetics have a shorter easier curve. I prefer naturals, but that is meaningless because others prefer synthetics. Read all you can before you decide which way to go.

Click to expand...

+1.

A nice big piece of thick glass with a sheet of sandpaper lightly and carefully glued to it not only works well for lapping a stone, but also can be used for setting the bevel on your razor. The big advantage is you can use WHATEVER GRIT YOU NEED, to get the job done. If a lot and I mean a lot of steel must go away before you get to where bevel meets good steel, you can start with very coarse paper and then progress up to 2k grit as the bevel comes in. For normal setting of the bevel where there is no damage to correct, you can go with anything from 600 to 2000 grit. If you only have a couple of razors to hone, it is way cheaper than buying a good 1k stone and much more versatile. Remember, you should only ever need to set the bevel once.

The same piece of glass will work great for honing with lapping film. Use acetone to remove the glue residue.

If you use rocks, bigger ones (within reason) are easier to learn on. With film, you can have a surface as big as you want. Cut a whole sheet in thirds lengthwise and you got lots of real estate there.

Be sure to read through at least half of the lapping film thread. As the thread progresses, more technical details come out that will help you to more quickly achieve better results.

Whatever you use for a finisher, you will also use for touchups. That is the tool you will use the most. The bevel setter and the progression you only use when honing from scratch. Unless you damage the edge.

+1 to sandpaper on glass, Slash saved me a ton of money there. All I would add is that if you lap under a running fawcet you don't even need glue; just hold it in place with fingers and the weight of the stone. The flowing water does the rest. Same goes for bevels in my experience, at least for rough work.

Though I much prefer a 1k synth for bevels.

ordered some film, glad the sizes almost match the size of my granite, sheets are 3"x 8" and my granite is 4" x 8".
ordered 3 micron and 1 micron
will this set me up? will I need smaller than 1 micron ?
I am assuming I will NOT have to set a bevel , just hone.
how about Stropping? still needed after messing with the 1 micron?
thanks

Stropping on leather is always needed before shaving, IMO.

stoop said:

Stropping on leather is always needed before shaving, IMO.

Click to expand...

I have a cheapo chinese strop. I'll see how things work out, wish I could find someone to mentor me in CA.