Hones, Stones and Strops...

[rtaylor61]

Laz,

Time to call on your experience here. Care to give a quick ABC tutorial on what hones/stones we should put in our arsenol? Primarily for maintaining a shave ready razor, but if possible, where to start with an "ebay special".

Also, maybe a bit of info on proper strop care, which pastes you would recommend, and any other information you feel migh be helpful for those who want to use a straight razor.

Congrats on becoming a mod...now...get to work!

Randy

(See, we don't ask for much!)

 

[Laz in Tampa]

Whoops, I guess I missed this post....

This can be a verrrry long subject.....but I will try to be as brief as I can. Each one of these can be pages by themselves.

A strop is a necessity for straight razor use. You should strop before every shave, and some people strop after shaving, too. This ensures the edge is 100% dry. You can buy hanging or a paddle strop. Your choice.

Hones/stones. You can get by with a inexpensive Swaty type barber hone. 10 bucks or so off Ebay. These are for shave ready razors that have dulled just a little from daily use. No one really knows what grits these gems are, but most people seem to think in the 6-10,000 grit range. Depends on the hone you buy, of course.

You can get a 60-70 dollar Norton waterstone 4000/8000 grit combo. These can be used to restore minor nicks. But it still will take a while to do. You can also use higher grit waterstones, like are popular with woodworkers.

Paste on strops. Strop conditioner has no abrasive qualities, and is used to keep leather supple. Different manufacturers make different colored grits, and there seems to be no uniformity between these, as to what colors are what grits.
Abrasive pastes to sharpen razors are best used on a paddle strop. No variations in tension, strop cupping, etc. Diamond pastes seem pretty popular for honing, you can get them in grits from 1200 up to 1000,000 grit. The higher ones may be overkill, and *could* make an edge far too fragile to withstand shaving whiskers.
If you do use abrasive paste on strops, keep the same grit on the strops, and wipe the edge clean before moving onto the next grit strop or plain leather. This stops "coarser" grit particles on "finer" grit strops. Use dedicated strops for a certain grit paste.

To restore an Ebay Special, I would recommend a DMT 1200 grit diamond hone,or a Spyderco 800 grit (coarse) ceramic hone. Some of these Ebay specials have nicks or chips in the edge, and/or incorrect bevels.

When you hone or strop a razor, the spine must remain on the hone or strop along with the edge. The razor was designed like this, to maintain the same sharpening angle every time.

 

[rtaylor61]

Laz,

Thanks for the info. Glad to have it from someone who knows!

Randy

 

[Laz in Tampa]

If there's any questions unanswered, or anything that needs clarification, feel free to fire away!

 

[rtaylor61]

Laz,

I received an Amalgamite hone today, purchased on ebay. This baby is just like glass!

Randy

 

[Laz in Tampa]

Thats one I don't have. The glass-like hones are for final finishing. Other hones with glassy surfaces are Swaty, Raven, Roxo, Velvet Edge, etc. They feel like a porcelan brick.

 

[rtaylor61]

I've got a Swaty on the way. At this point, I think I've assembled everything I need to keep things going. Now, if I just had time to work on all of this!

Randy

 

[Joe Lerch]

Congratulations on becoming a moderator Laz. Between the different boards you're keeping yourself busy.

You can maintain a razor witha barber hone (you can buy them new or cheap on Ebay) and a strop. Or you can use one of those two sided strops with leather on one side and abrasive paste on the other. That could maintain the razor for a long time, if you keep it keen. Eventually you would need a coarser hone and there are such baber hones around.

For Ebay razors you need something better, like a Norton 4/8. It will handle everything except the really dull or chipped blades. Working those out requires something coarser, like a 1K stone, unless you're willing to work a long time. Once you fix the razor, the 4K can establish the edge and the 8K can finish it. But better results are obtained if you go to something smoother after that, like a very fine baber hone.

I use two types of fine barber hones: a touchup stone, like a Swaty, which is fine but can refresh an edge in just a few swipes; and a fine finishing hone which produces a fine edge slowly.

For convenience, I keep pasted strops in the following sizes: 6, 3, 1, .5, and .25. The grit equivalents are 3K, 8K, 12K, 50K and 100K. These grits and a regular strop are on just two paddle strops a four sided one and a two sided one. That let's me work on just about any razor at my desk, unless it needs a lot of work. The water hones are just too messy to set up for a single razor.

Other than occasional refreshing (a few swipes on a baber hone or pasted strop), honing is something you need to do infrequenly. Stropping on plain leather is done before every shave, and sometimes even during a shave. Traditionally, barbers used hanging strops, but I prefer a paddle strop becuase it's easier to use and more compact. Strops should be kept supple with an occasional dressing or the oil from your hands.

 

[rtaylor61]

Joe,

Thanks for the info!

Randy

 

[Joe Lerch]

Randy, I don't know if you are aware, but there ae two types of fine hones. The Swaty is very fine but it's fast, perfect for a quick touchup. Then, there's a finishing hone which is fine and slow. That let's you do a careful job when you're restoring an edge. I have a very small, dark very smooth hone, which I thiink is an Amalgamite. That's a finishing hone.

One other hone you might want is a coarser one. A good idea might be one of the two sided hones like a Frictionite or Keen Kutter Kombination. You can get the on Ebay.

I keep a Swaty in the bathroom in case I need a few swipes on a razor I'm trying to shave with.

 

[rtaylor61]

Joe,

So far I have picked up a Norton 4K/8K, a Carborandum #121 Fine Sharpening Hone, a Wester Bros. Fine 2 in 1 hone (from Tilly), a Itsapeech fine finishing home from Tilly, the Amalgamite (which is by far the "smoothest", and I have a Swaty on the way. The one thing I find the most interesting is that the Wester Bros hone says "never lay your instrument totally flat" and the Itsapeech says just the opposite. My understanding is that with a straight razor you do lay the razor flat, and that the spine keeps the proper angle.

Randy

 

[Laz in Tampa]

No matter how you hone your razor, stones or pasted strops, ALWAYS lay your razor flat on the sharpening medium. The spine keeps the edge at a consistent angle.

 

[rtaylor61]

No matter how you hone your razor, stones or pasted strops, ALWAYS lay your razor flat on the sharpening medium. The spine keeps the edge at a consistent angle.

Yes sir! Thanks for the "straight" advice!

Randy

 

[Joe Lerch]

Laz,

I received an Amalgamite hone today, purchased on ebay. This baby is just like glass!

Randy

I think I was confusing this hone with another one. Tilly says it's a medium hone.

 

[Joe Lerch]

Joe,

So far I have picked up a Norton 4K/8K, a Carborandum #121 Fine Sharpening Hone, a Wester Bros. Fine 2 in 1 hone (from Tilly), a Itsapeech fine finishing home from Tilly, the Amalgamite (which is by far the "smoothest", and I have a Swaty on the way. The one thing I find the most interesting is that the Wester Bros hone says "never lay your instrument totally flat" and the Itsapeech says just the opposite. My understanding is that with a straight razor you do lay the razor flat, and that the spine keeps the proper angle.

Randy

With a razor, you don't worry about the edge angle when sharpening. The angle is built into the razor when it lies flat on the honing surface. It's defined by the edge and the side of the spine on the back of the razor. When you hone, the edge should be a uniform width along it's entire length as should the little band that you form at the side of the spine. If you monitor them, you'll be able to keep the pressure of the honing stroke uniform along the entire edge.

Maybe the Wester hone you were looking at was intended for knives.

 

[halwilson]

Randy, I don't know if you are aware, but there ae two types of fine hones. The Swaty is very fine but it's fast, perfect for a quick touchup. Then, there's a finishing hone which is fine and slow. That let's you do a careful job when you're restoring an edge. I have a very small, dark very smooth hone, which I thiink is an Amalgamite.

Hi Joe,

An Amalgamite is medium grit hone. To name a few, some fine finishing hones are: Itsapeech, Honemaster, Blue Point, Army Navy, Velvet, Frictionate 000.

Hal

 

[Joe Lerch]

Hi Joe,

An Amalgamite is medium grit hone. To name a few, some fine finishing hones are: Itsapeech, Honemaster, Blue Point, Army Navy, Velvet, Frictionate 000.

Hal

I corrected that in a later post. Frankly, even the mediums (I have a Wester Bros.) look pretty fine to me. What's the coarse side of the Frictionate? I don't think any of them are nearly as coarse as a 4K. And that's what I'd use to set up an edge. The barber hones just seem too slow. What did the barbers do?

I just bought a cushion strop because Tilly said it was fast cutting. I wonder. I may just have to keep a very fine diamond hone on hand for the tough jobs. I'm trying to go to those messy water stones as little as possible (only when I have a bunch of razors to do).

 

[JohnP]

Hi folks,
Any of you guys using Shaptons? After the chat last night over at SRP, now I'm curious.
And count me in the barber hone fan club. Some of my best results have been when I finished on one, (the Itsapeech is just the trick to bring back a hair popping edge...)
Anyway, If you are using a Shapton, fill us in on how they work???I would like to live vicariously until I get paid....

John P

 

[Joe Lerch]

Hi Joe,

An Amalgamite is medium grit hone. To name a few, some fine finishing hones are: Itsapeech, Honemaster, Blue Point, Army Navy, Velvet, Frictionate 000.

Hal

I just want to update my post. I just received a carborundum razor hone I won on Ebay, and I finally have an aggressive hone. It feels coarser and it really cuts fast. It feels like it might be a 2K grit.

 

[rtaylor61]

I've think I've got the medium and fine hones covered...Wester Bros for medium and both an Amalgamite and Itsapeech for finishing. Not sure of the grit of my Carborundum, however the box says "fine". Will the Norton 4K be rough enough to work on the "hard case" ebay razors, or will I need a rougher grit?

Randy