Honing on a budget.

[Casey]

I've two straights (an old Kahnweiler that was my grandpa's and an 1880s English), but unfortunately I can't sink the cash to learn to hone.

I have a set of stones and a good strop, but my stone progression isn't far enough- the finest is a Spyderco fine, which I'm told is somewhere around 3000 grit.

What's out there reasonably priced? I've searched for razor sharpening stones on EBay, but what I'm seeing looks like Arkansas black, which is no finer than what I have.

 

[life2short1971]

Research lapping paper. It is very fine paper that cuts fast and sharp on the cheap.

 

[wdwrx]

I might be a little biased, but if I wanted to go through life with just one hone, the only one that would fit the bill for me is a coti.

They take some dedication to learn, but once you learn to get good edges, they are perfectly satisfactory.
They can function as a bevel setter if one is possessed of a great deal of patience and determination, and rival some of the best finisher's out there for a skin friendly edge.

A 1.5 x 7" or 2 x 6" hone is very reasonably priced. Considering the amount of money I've spent of synthetics, I could have had a nice coti for a fraction of the price.

There are a lot of other options out there, a mind numbing selection, and a guy can spend a ton of money on it, learning what works for him.
I might recommend taking advantage of various honemeister's selections of stones, and request certain finishes as one way of trying before buying.

In my limited experience, different stones/finishing routines have different effects on the comfort of my shave.

 

[Utopian]

The cheapest option is a barber hone. If you start with a shave ready razor, a barber hone is all you need to maintain it indefinitely. You can buy a decent barber hone on eBay for less than $50.

 

[wdwrx]

The cheapest option is a barber hone. If you start with a shave ready razor, a barber hone is all you need to maintain it indefinitely. You can buy a decent barber hone on eBay for less than $50.

Indeed.
I almost added that, but I'm not a good typist so I opted for my #1 choice for the sake of brevity.
I've read lots of gents have maintained razors perfectly well with nothing but a Barber's hone. They worked well for our forefathers for well over a hundred years. And they are available for about a third or less of the price of a coti.
Lots are available with dual grits, which should serve to make them doubly practical.

 

[instpasr]

Casey whipped dog has some barbers hones for next to nothing, I just ordered one and expect it any day now. I can let you know how it goes.

 

[petr]

Casey whipped dog has some barbers hones for next to nothing, I just ordered one and expect it any day now. I can let you know how it goes.

whipped dog is your guy for sharpening WELL on a budget. Good guy.

Are Norton waterstones too much? That would be my suggestion 4000/8000 combo with the chinese 12000 finisher - they are way cheap. See Joel's sticky.

If not Norton, then barber hones. It's going to take some time and patience though because who knows what you actually have until you use it.

 

[johnmrson]

I'm using Nortons at the moment and they are OK. If you can stretch to a 4000/8000 dual sided stone and a 12000 Chinese Natural stone then that's a pretty good combo. If a razor is totally blunt then you will need something around 1000 to set the bevel.

 

[Chimensch]

I'm using Nortons at the moment and they are OK. If you can stretch to a 4000/8000 dual sided stone and a 12000 Chinese Natural stone then that's a pretty good combo. If a razor is totally blunt then you will need something around 1000 to set the bevel.

I took out a chip on the 4K side of the Norton with slurry, it took me about an hour. So you don't actually need a 1K. It's just faster.

 

[danjared]

Another inexpensive option is a pasted paddle strop, like the ones that Dovo makes.

 

[professorchaos]

Lapping films or a pasted paddle. A four sided pasted paddle with 2, 1, .5 and .25 micron diamond paste covers a whole lot of ground. If used properly, it'll produce a very sharp, smooth edge.

 

[walto]

IMHO lapping films are a good way to start honing if you have only a few razors to keep shave ready. Since you have some lower grit stones you can get 3µm and 1µm Aluminium oxide lapping films to cover the higher grits after the 3000 grit hone.

The dimension of 1 sheet usually is 81/2 x 11". So I cut them in 3 pieces and place them on a thick glass plate. Spray them with water and you are ready to go.

For a smooth finish you can apply crox on a balsa strop.

 

[Casey]

I'll have to look into lapping films. I can hone well, but I just don't think it's fine enough.

 

[Legion]

I'm using Nortons at the moment and they are OK. If you can stretch to a 4000/8000 dual sided stone and a 12000 Chinese Natural stone then that's a pretty good combo. If a razor is totally blunt then you will need something around 1000 to set the bevel.

I have exactly the setup John describes, with a King 800 for setting my bevel. I think it is really all you need.

 

[Casey]

Now i have a pack of lapping film. 15 micron, 5 micron, 0.3 micron. Where shall I start?

 

[life2short1971]

If you have put one of your stones to it already start with the 15. They work fast so check your self every 30 seconds or so. With no pressure at all.

 

[walto]

Now i have a pack of lapping film. 15 micron, 5 micron, 0.3 micron. Where shall I start?

The 15 micron films are about the grit size as a Shapton 1000 glass hone. The 5 micron films have a similar grit size as Shaptons 3000 hones.
As you see you have big gaps in your progression.
The 15 µm films can be used to set a bevel. From there you will need something to fill the gap to the 5 µm film. I am not sure if you can remove the scratch marks from 15µm with 5µm films with a reasonable effort.
The 0.3 µm films can be used to touch up an almost shave ready blade.

 

[domino]

My understanding is that - 5um ~ 4000k
3um ~ 8000k
1 um ~ 16000k

 

[danjared]

The 15 micron films are about the grit size as a Shapton 1000 glass hone. The 5 micron films have a similar grit size as Shaptons 3000 hones.
As you see you have big gaps in your progression.
The 15 µm films can be used to set a bevel. From there you will need something to fill the gap to the 5 µm film. I am not sure if you can remove the scratch marks from 15µm with 5µm films with a reasonable effort.
The 0.3 µm films can be used to touch up an almost shave ready blade.

15 micron to 5 micron is fine. 5 to 0.3 micron is a fairly large gap but probably fine as well. There's no need to obsess about getting every intermediate grit. That's just wasting money.

 

[richmondesi]

Inexpensive Superhone may be the best option. I wouldn't know, as I've never used it, but an endorsement from Robert Williams carries as much clout as just about any as far as I'm concerned...