New Honing set up...HELP!!

the_shaving_sailor

the_shaving_sailor

Member
2018 Sabbatical
Joined
Jan 18, 2017
Location
Sydney
hey guys im looking to get set up so i can start sharpening straight razors.

ive got a 10 pack of gold dollars on the way for practise and was wondering what grits of stones i should buy.

now im only a beginner so i dont want to go buy really expensive japanese or arkansas stones ill be buying mid range priced synthetic stones and strop. i already have a very good quality 1000 grit stone what other grits should i get.

cheers in advance.
 
I use a 1k for setting the bevel, 4K/8K combi stone for midrange, and finish off with on 8k and 12K. Bought cheap low grit combo stones from China but the 8k & 12K are Naniwa speciality stones.

Couldn't get a good edge with a 8/10k welsh dragon tongue, even using paste and stropping my heart out.
 
Synthetic? Here is an exerpt from another thread here which I will find at some stage from the resident honemeister;

Chosera 1k - This is my preferred bevel setter, use this for setting a bevel.
What is setting a bevel? It is removing metal to grind in a new primary edge to prepare it for refining. The 1k is obviously an aggressive stone for straight razors but it's highly required and it is the most important stone in any honing set. 90% of your work is involved in setting the bevel, the rest is just removing scratches and polishing.

Shapton pro 5k - This is the best 5k stone I've ever tried. It's solid, fast and provides awesome feedback. This is where all of your clean up work gets done after the 1k, You are deleting the 1k scratch pattern, removing the toothiness of the edge in order to prepare it for a refinement. You can not do enough strokes on the 5k and it is impossible to overhone on it. It's my favourite in the whole progression, use until it feels like a glass surface, that's when you know it's no longer doing anything make sure you're very light on the pressure, at least on your final strokes. Still not cutting hairs? the bevel is not set, go back to the 1k and start over.

Shapton pro 8k - This is used to erase the 5k scratch pattern and refine the edge to a near mirror polish, although you can't to too many strokes here it won't take too many at all, 20-60 depending on each individual razor. This is where the edge is minimally shave ready. Use no pressure at on the 8k.

Shapton pro 12k - This is when you need to be very careful, extremely light pressure, weight of the razor or just enough to keep the blade on the stone. Here you can do too many, 15 - 25 strokes is more than enough for me, at this stage you can just strop and shave. You can strop on Chromium oxide or diamond spray 0.5um for some extra oomph to the edge but it's not required. Microchips visible after the 12k? You haven't done enough on the 5k. go back to the 5k and continue on from there.
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thank you very much for the help guys i now have my shopping list

just need to go look at strops aswell but i think ill wait till all the stones are purchased


cheers
 
I bought Naniwa Super Stones from Shaving.ie. The cheapest I found. 5k, 8k, 12k. My 1k is a Chosera. The Naniwas have an excellent rep and I'm really pleased with them.

(Please bear in mind I'm a newbie honer, however I checked in with @Mark and he rates them)
 
Alba65 said:
Your first strop will no doubt end up as mincemeat, so not worth spending a great deal on it in my opinion. Buy cheap is my advice.
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It might, but don't assume it will. Go slow and think about what you're doing, did I mention go slow? and you might find it's barely nicked. Still buy cheap though! If you want really cheap, I piece of roo leather glued to a board, or over a rod is under $20.
 
the_shaving_sailor said:
ive got a 10 pack of gold dollars on the way for practise and was wondering what grits of stones i should buy.
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If you haven't check on line as there are a few who have good tips on learning with a GD. Get a black marker pen as well.

The most important thing really will be to understand when the bevel is actually set and when to move to the next stone.

Alba65 said:
I use a 1k for setting the bevel, 4K/8K combi stone for midrange, and finish off with on 8k and 12K.
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That seems a good range to work with. Synthetics will allow you a bit better understanding of when and why to move to the next hone. I do see a natural finisher in your future :)

Sxot said:
It might, but don't assume it will.
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I discovered just how sharp a straight is when I got the stropping sequence mixed up. Of course not an inexpensive strop. Roo no less.
 
I use 2 strops. One is canvas/semi-coarse leather paddle, that I picked up at an antique store. Home made, but with nice character.

The other is a smooth $3 leather belt.

Gives me a lot of time between hones.
 
I find the paddle strop better too, bought the straight razor design one with magnetic attachment....... wouldn't recommend it, extra leather/canvas etc is never in stock and his shipping is nothing less than robbery.

Hear good things about the roo skin, but not so many lying along the roads of norther Europe, so price has put me off.
 
Alba65 said:
I find the paddle strop better too, bought the straight razor design one with magnetic attachment....... wouldn't recommend it, extra leather/canvas etc is never in stock and his shipping is nothing less than robbery.

Hear good things about the roo skin, but not so many lying along the roads of norther Europe, so price has put me off.
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I'm pretty sold on Roo. I've been using it over my Kanoyama! The Kanoyama feels better but I find the draw too low and prefer what the roo does to my edges. If you are keen to DIY, be it glue onto a timber paddle, or over some rod to make hanging roo can be very cheap - this one I bought recently - $12. It's a little thinner than I would have liked but I'm happy. If you want some direction as to how to make a DIY hanging strop, drop me a PM.
 
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