Honing advice please

[The Badger Rider]

I'm new to honing and so far the Norton 4/8k combo stone seems to be very popular. I'm not to crazy about the price, but if I have to I'll bite the bullet and get it.

On the other hand, I found an 8000 grit diamond hone for about $10 less and I've heard diamond hones are great if you have the cash for it. I would have thought that diamond hones were more expensive than this, but it's cheaper than the norton.

None of the razors I own have poor edges as far as being chipped or super dull. Basically, they need to be fine tuned back to that sharp razor edge, so I would think as of now all I need would be an 8000 grit stone. What would you guys suggest? Thanks!

 

[ouch]

Diamond hones can be tricky. The only one I've heard successful reports about is the DMT XX-Fine.

One good thing about them is that you don't have to worry about flattening them.

 

[richmondesi]

If you just want a touch up, and don't want to spend much money, I'd pick up a Barber's Hone from Glen

 

[The Badger Rider]

Diamond hones can be tricky. The only one I've heard successful reports about is the DMT XX-Fine.

One good thing about them is that you don't have to worry about flattening them.

The description on that says its for polishing and getting that last bit of sharp on the edge. Would that still be good enough for regular blade maintenance?

If you just want a touch up, and don't want to spend much money, I'd pick up a Barber's Hone from Glen

I'll check that out right now. Thanks!

Edit: The hones from Glen have 3 different grades. S, N, and V. Do you know more about the difference between them?

 

[professorchaos]

Why not use pasted strops? There are many options available to you, they are all easy to use and work well when properly employed. I'm really fond of the hard wool hanger loaded with diamond paste. Of course you need to have stropping down before trying to use a pasted hanger.

 

[Sticky]

For touch-up maintenance I'd also go with a good barber hone or any hone ~12k.

If you're just starting out, the pastes can sometimes be easier to use and will keep the edge nice for a really long time.

 

[The Badger Rider]

The paste sounds like a good idea then. My stropping skills are godlike, but do I need another strop just for the paste?

 

[professorchaos]

Yes, you will need another strop for the paste. Tony Miller sells both paddles and hard wool hangers.

 

[Sticky]

You could use a balsa or leather paddle. Or the back of your hanging strop, if you don't mind getting some of the paste on the linen facing the leather (assuming it's a two-part hanger).

Even with paste, bear in mind that it's generally thought that eventually you'll need a hone. Some folks also just don't like pastes (my favorites were Dovo black ~1.0u and Chromium Oxide 0.5u).

If I was starting out all over, I'd get a good barber hone and some paste.
Just to see which I liked the best.

 

[The Badger Rider]

Yeah I have a 2 part strop with the linen so I could put paste on that since I don't really use it anyway. I do have 1 or 2 razors that do need a honing though.

 

[The Badger Rider]

If you just want a touch up, and don't want to spend much money, I'd pick up a Barber's Hone from Glen

I'm picking up the Genuine Carborundum hone from this site. Thanks for the referral!

In the meantime, with everything that I mentioned about my razors, can you guys recommend the right paste for me? Just for livening up the edges on my blades. Thanks!

 

[richmondesi]

I don't care for diamond pastes personally, so I would order the Chromium Oxide from Hand America... purported to be 99.9 percent pure. Add that to a Balsa block and it should be really good. Ask Glen about his setup like that. He finished a razor for me on it, and I was very pleased (I think he's selling those, but I'm not certain that they are ready just yet... ask him)

 

[The Badger Rider]

I don't care for diamond pastes personally, so I would order the Chromium Oxide from Hand America... purported to be 99.9 percent pure. Add that to a Balsa block and it should be really good. Ask Glen about his setup like that. He finished a razor for me on it, and I was very pleased (I think he's selling those, but I'm not certain that they are ready just yet... ask him)

Ok I'll probably pick up some of that paste then. Are you familiar with the blocks that Glen sells? I emailed him asking about the length, width and height of block, but I haven't gotten an answer yet. I was just wondering what the length was mostly and if all the hones are approximately the same in length.

 

[richmondesi]

Ok I'll probably pick up some of that paste then. Are you familiar with the blocks that Glen sells? I emailed him asking about the length, width and height of block, but I haven't gotten an answer yet. I was just wondering what the length was mostly and if all the hones are approximately the same in length.

He told me, but I can't remember off hand. He'll likely have it preassembled, and pasted (with enough additional paste to last you 5 years or more), if you buy one from him.