Beginner Setup

[SharpieB]

Hey all,

My lovely bride bought me a nice custom SR for Christmas and I am clueless about all things honing. I have used inexpensive stones to sharpen my knives, but never a SR.

I have a Mac’s leather/canvas strop which will be fine to start/practice on, but I have no idea what stones I need to keep my SR in shave ready shape.

It has been 25-30 years since I last used a SR regularly, so I am completely out of practice and don’t want to spend a ton of $$$ to start. Ideally a starter setup from a local Canadian retailer (or even Amazon) is what I am looking for. I don’t expect to use a SR daily but I did enjoy using them many years ago.

Any help or guidance from you fine folks would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Christian1212]

I suggest having it honed by others for the first 3 to 4 cycles. Cheapest would probably be film. I suggest trying a film edge, arkansas edge, and 12k synthetic edge. (Other natural edges are nice but also expensive and not easy to find the right stone always)

 

[Wid]

If not used on a regular basis then use a pasted strop when the razor starts to tug. You can keep that razor going for a very long time like this.

 

[SharpieB]

If not used on a regular basis then use a pasted strop when the razor starts to tug. You can keep that razor going for a very long time like this.

So used a couple of times a week, it might not need to be honed for many months if I strop it properly? If that’s the case, might it make sense for me just to send it out to a reputable vendor a couple times a year? The Classic Edge is fairly local and seem to do a good job…

 

[cugel]

Yes, provided it has a good edge and you strop well, there may not need to be any need to "touch it up" for quite some time. It really depends on how far down the honing rabbit hole you wish to go. I enjoy honing and am a romantic so I use mostly natural stones. Others prefer modern abrasive films. There are countless options, really.

 

[H Brad Boonshaft]

Yes, if you can strop…

Refresh on a 12k Naniwia Super Stone, $75. Or better yet a Naniwa snow white stone (AKA IF-0001 Junpaku), White box, is a much better option for $35 more, they do not load up like the Super Stones.

But you can get along with the Super Stone, if you pick up an inexpensive $30 Diamond Plate. A 12k will keep you shaving, with .50um CBN or pure Chrome Oxide, shaving very well.

If you keep straight shaving and feel yourself slipping into the vortex, try some naturals.

 

[cotedupy]

Yes, if you can strop…

Refresh on a 12k Naniwia Super Stone, $75. Or better yet a Naniwa snow white stone (AKA IF-0001 Junpaku), White box, is a much better option for $35 more, they do not load up like the Super Stones.

But you can get along with the Super Stone, if you pick up an inexpensive $30 Diamond Plate. A 12k will keep you shaving, with .50um CBN or pure Chrome Oxide, shaving very well.

If you keep straight shaving and feel yourself slipping into the vortex, try some naturals.

Interesting... so the Snow White's 8k right? (Correct me if I'm wrong that's just what I think I remember it being). Why do you reckon that's a better option in this scenario than a higher grit SS?

Just asking as I don't have a massive amount of experience of experience with high grit synths, so don't know about how these kinds of things compare, especially for SRs. Pretty sure I've never tried the SS12k for instance. I have used a SW and thought it was completely naff, but obviously that was for knives, and stones that are cr*p for knives often seem to be excellent for razors, and vice versa.

[Apologies to OP if this derails the thread slightly]

 

[rbscebu]

@SharpieB it all depends on your budget and how much time you are willing to put into (re)developing your honing skills. The cheapest and quickest in learning is using lapping films on acrylic substrate. From there it is just more dollars and time required.

 

[H Brad Boonshaft]

The original Snow White “8k” stone will leave a near mirror bevel and edge quality identical to a 12k Super Stone, but without the stone loading up.

If you finish hone on a 12k Super Stone, the load up can/will damage the edge, so you must clean, lightly lap the stone face for your finish laps to get the best, pristine edge. Not a big deal, but if you use the stone a lot it is a hassle. The Snow White produces the same bevel and edge without the load up issue, for me well worth the extra cost, and it is a full size, thickness stone.

I always use the 12k-8k as a jumping off point to a natural so, if there is a minor variance in keenness, it is a non-issue. It is as aggressive and finishes as well as the 12k. Old reviews rate the Snow White as harder and finer performer than the rated 8k.

A few years ago there was a rumor it was going to be discontinued, I bought 2 new extra stones. They are also splash and go.

 

[Slash McCoy]

The Method. Newbie Honing Compendium | Badger & Blade

 

[cotedupy]

The original Snow White “8k” stone will leave a near mirror bevel and edge quality identical to a 12k Super Stone, but without the stone loading up.

If you finish hone on a 12k Super Stone, the load up can/will damage the edge, so you must clean, lightly lap the stone face for your finish laps to get the best, pristine edge. Not a big deal, but if you use the stone a lot it is a hassle. The Snow White produces the same bevel and edge without the load up issue, for me well worth the extra cost, and it is a full size, thickness stone.

I always use the 12k-8k as a jumping off point to a natural so, if there is a minor variance in keenness, it is a non-issue. It is as aggressive and finishes as well as the 12k. Old reviews rate the Snow White as harder and finer performer than the rated 8k.

A few years ago there was a rumor it was going to be discontinued, I bought 2 new extra stones. They are also splash and go.

Ta! I find Naniwas in general tend to run a little higher than their JIS rating suggests, including the SS. The SW certainly seemed finer than 8k to me.

In your experience do the SS get more cloggy as the grit increases? I’ve used the 400 and 1k, both of which were alright for that (400 is actually a really very good stone). And I’ve got a 3k which is unusably cloggy for knives, but fine for razors - and again actually rather a nice stone. But I can imagine if the high grit stones clog very easily they’d completely balls up an edge.

I probably know a couple of people who’d give me their SW for next to nothing (they’re that useless for knives). Sounds like I need to revisit it for razor honing!

 

[stone and strop]

Hey all,

My lovely bride bought me a nice custom SR for Christmas and I am clueless about all things honing. I have used inexpensive stones to sharpen my knives, but never a SR.

I have a Mac’s leather/canvas strop which will be fine to start/practice on, but I have no idea what stones I need to keep my SR in shave ready shape.

It has been 25-30 years since I last used a SR regularly, so I am completely out of practice and don’t want to spend a ton of $$$ to start. Ideally a starter setup from a local Canadian retailer (or even Amazon) is what I am looking for. I don’t expect to use a SR daily but I did enjoy using them many years ago.

Any help or guidance from you fine folks would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Where bouts are you located?

 

[SharpieB]

Where bouts are you located?

East of Toronto, Canada.

 

[stone and strop]

East of Toronto, Canada.

Just wondered if you were the other side of Toronto (West) closer to me.
Pauls Finest in Quebec has pretty good prices on stones. I have purchased a few times with no worry's at all.
Right now they don't show the 12k Naniwa but have the 10k which is well regarded also.
For grunt work the Shapton Kuramaku line is great. 1.5k, then 5k followed by Naniwa 10 or 12k would work well for just a few stones.

 

[bluesman 7]

I was thinking that film was the only way with minimal investment.

I just remembered that Joe Calton had developed a method using a 1k/6k King combo and CrOx. Based on the fact that a lot of people already had that stone for knife sharpening and it could be purchased for ~$30. The idea was for knife people to be able to try out straight shaving at minimal investment.

I did a razor using that method just to see what I could do with it and got a very usable edge.

If you ever purchase better stones the 1/6 King will probably end up on a shelf, but...

 

[H Brad Boonshaft]

The 6k King is an under rated stone. The King S-3 6k is aggressive and can polish much higher than the “rated” 6k finish, closer to most 8ks.

And there are different versions, older stones were more brown/tan newer stones are cream colored. The older stones were even higher polishers also with a wide range of aggression.

I have one very old King with a wooden base, a caramel-colored stone, (similar to a Kita Jnat) with dark brown speckles, that is aggressive, (will remove 1k stria) and polish to near mirror, it has an earthy tobacco smell when honed on. I also have another marked S-3 on a wooden base that is more tan/pink colored that does not finish as well as the Carmel stone but finishes close to 8k.

Matsunaga/King is the oldest and best-known maker of Japanese water stones, and I am told they make stones for others under different brands. The king line is very under rated for razors and are excellent value, half the price of its competitors.

They get a bad rap because they are soft, but for razors a soft stone is not a bad thing, think Jnat, Coticule and Slates…

 

[cotedupy]

After the Ouka (obviously), the King 1.2 must surely be the next most perfect and complete waterstone ever made!

 

[Empire straights]

Vintage washita. Once it'll cut facial hair you're 50 laps on a black ark and your done. Starting on synths week be easier but you're probably going to want an ark eventually. It's be cheaper to learn to finish on one. Vintage Washitas can take you from bevel set to 7-8k if you got a pretty fine one. That equals a coticule in grit and vintage Washitas are extremely consistent. They will vary some but not a ton. If you have one that's burnished and mildly glazed you can actual get a really comfortable offs out of them if you finish with spine leading strokes and give it a decent strop on really stiff leather. Lots of people think slates or coticules are easier ways to start but personally I find if you keep your strokes consistent an ark will easily give up am she like no other. It is the standard for sharp outside of jnats and even then I'd put money on arks in the right hands, though I don't know much about jnats.

 

[Rosseforp]

The original Snow White “8k” stone will leave a near mirror bevel and edge quality identical to a 12k Super Stone, but without the stone loading up.

If you finish hone on a 12k Super Stone, the load up can/will damage the edge, so you must clean, lightly lap the stone face for your finish laps to get the best, pristine edge. Not a big deal, but if you use the stone a lot it is a hassle. The Snow White produces the same bevel and edge without the load up issue, for me well worth the extra cost, and it is a full size, thickness stone.

I always use the 12k-8k as a jumping off point to a natural so, if there is a minor variance in keenness, it is a non-issue. It is as aggressive and finishes as well as the 12k. Old reviews rate the Snow White as harder and finer performer than the rated 8k.

A few years ago there was a rumor it was going to be discontinued, I bought 2 new extra stones. They are also splash and go.

Pretty much why I just picked up a SW from Sharpening Supplies last week. I love it already. The 12k is a great finisher, but also loads up "Super Fast". I also found the SW gives a great edge on my knives.

doug