What hones do you suggest?

[rbscebu]

Cheap Chinese straights make me think that an initial diamond sequence might be in order to rewrite things. Not exactly something that I would recommend to a beginner, but if the price is right for the razors, and you're already familiar with Shaptons, then why not?

I sort of agree with SliceOfLife's post. As the cheap Chinese razors can need a lot of work, I would suggest a DMT Duosharp coarse/fine combo to reshape things as needed, followed by a Suehiro 1000/3000 synthetic combo. The coarse side of the DMT can also be used to lap the synthetic combo. The rest is a question of personal taste, and perhaps what's available to you locally. If there's a mid-range finishing Cnat followed by a final finishing Cnat, that might be the way to go to keep costs down. Otherwise, I would recommend a coticule followed by a Welsh purple slate. But there are a million roads to Rome as the saying goes...

You may not have honed up a new Gold Dollar lately. I have only honed up about a dozen over the past couple of years. They are now no more difficult to hone from bevel-set to shave-ready than any of the much more expensive SRs from Europe, America or Australia.

 

[Alum of Potash]

You may not have honed up a new Gold Dollar lately. They are now no more difficult to hone from bevel-set to shave-ready than any of the much more expensive SRs from Europe, America or Australia.

If that's the case and the original reference to cheap Chinese straights refers to such Gold Dollars, then skip to a Suehiro 1k/3k as per my recommendation above and move up from there. The synthetic combo can be lapped with 320x or 400x wet/dry sandpaper (used wet) on a piece of plate glass in lieu of the coarse DMT.

Not sure what country my barber's Titan that I recently honed came from; I was thinking China. In any case, the bevel was sky-high relative to the spine-edge relationship, needing a lot of work to rewrite things so that the bevel, spine and edge were in line together.

Didn't know razors were being made in Australia.

 

[rbscebu]

If that's the case and the original reference to cheap Chinese straights refers to such Gold Dollars, then skip to a Suehiro 1k/3k as per my recommendation above and move up from there. The synthetic combo can be lapped with 320x or 400x wet/dry sandpaper (used wet) on a piece of plate glass in lieu of the coarse DMT.

Not sure what country my barber's Titan that I recently honed came from; I was thinking China. In any case, the bevel was sky-high relative to the spine-edge relationship, needing a lot of work to rewrite things so that the bevel, spine and edge were in line together.

Didn't know razors were being made in Australia.

Titan are ground and assembled in the ROC (not PRC), Gold Dollar are PRC. I have honed more than three dozen Titan SRs from new. Like most factory finished edges, all came with compound bevels. I have never had any difficulties in honing any Gold Dollar or Titan SRs. You must have been just unlucky with the one Titan that you honed, like I was with one new TI SR once.

There are at least two SR manufacturers in Australia, SK Colling & Co. and DC Blades. I know the high quality of the Colling SRs, on par with Ralf Aust. DC Blades also have a good reputation but I have yet to get one of their SRs.

 

[Pack line]

Get friendly with local barbers who offer straight razor shaves. They will most likely know the local market of hones.

 

[RayClem]

There are a number of factors that come into play. The first and foremost is you budget. Hones can cost from several dollars to several hundred dollars.

Unless you are honing a lot of razors, it is not cost effective to purchase a full progression of stones to set the bevel and bring it to the point where it is ready for a finishing stone. If you are on a budget, it is less expensive to pay someone to hone the razor properly and then maintain it using a finishing stone or pasted strops.

Then there is the issue of your beard and skin. If you have a light beard and tough skin, you might be able to shave off an 8K Norton hone or a Coticule. I have a tough beard and sensitive skin, so I need a very sharp and very smooth edge. Those stones do not produce an edge I can use.

I need to refresh my edge about every 5-6 shaves, so having someone else hone the razor is not feasible for me. I have to use finishing stones that are in the 15K grit range or higher. My favorite synthetic finisher is a Suehiro Gokumyo 20K hone that has a grit size of 0.5 microns, but that hone cost me $300. Even after that, I use pasted strops to polish the edge even further.

I love finishing on natural hones, even though I have the G20K. There are some naturals that finish in the 10K-12K level. For some they would be suitable. Some of these stones include the Chinese Guangxi 12K, the Vermont green slate, and modern Thuringians. There are some that finish even finer than 12K. The ones I have are the South African Zulu Gray, the Imperia la Roccia, the Greek Vermio, the French Black Shadow, and the Welsh Yellow Lake Llyn Melynllyn slate. The more expensive Pierre la Lune and Genuine vintage Escher Thuringens. which I do not have, might be in this same category.

Many experts love using Japanese natural stones, but there is a huge learning curve in using such stones, so they are not ideal for beginners.

Arkansas stones mined in the Ouachita Mountains are made of novaculite which is a very dense stone. The hard black and translucent varieties can be used as finishing stones is properly burnished, but they are slow in metal removal, so it takes a lot of patience to use one. I have a hard black stone from Dan's Whetstone, but do not have the patience to finish an edge using it.

Another thing, if the razors you purchased for honing practice are Gold Dollar or Gold Monkey razors, they have a heal stabilizer that can prevent the razor from laying flat on the hone. It is often necessary to use a Dremel tool to remove some of the stabilizer before the razors can be honed properly. There are YouTube videos that show how to modify the stabilizer if your does not lay flat.

 

[Titleist]

Some random thoughts here so bear with me: Every time this question comes up, the first factor bandied around seems to be "cost". And that's a fair topic to begin with. My question is this: Are you shaving to hone? Or, are you honing to shave?

If cost is a factor, I would recommend that instead of going down another rabbit hole, a person spend the money on a quality entry level Aust or TI and have it professionally honed. And when the edge starts to tug, send it out for a touch up or, use a paste on a substrate to get back into the game.

I often have asked the same question of myself for the last decade: "Am I honing to shave? Or, am I shaving to hone?"

And my answer (to myself) is that I am honing to shave.

Rabbit holes are breaking quite a few ankles. Keep it simple and master your straight razor and your strop first. The stones, lapping papers, etc will always be there.

Just one Man's opinion.

 

[Frank Shaves]

I would get a set of synthetic Japanese stones. My first choice would be Shapton HR.

To build a progression where each stone is 3x the grit of the previous, I would recommend 1000, 3000, 8000, followed by the finisher of your choice (Coticule, hard black or translucent Arkansas, Naniwa Gouken 12000, Thuringian).

To build what I will call a traditional progression, I would recommend 1000, 4000, 8000. By traditional, I am referring to the fact that not too long ago, synthetic stones were commonly sold in 1000, 4000, 8000 grits, with the Norton synthetics being a good example (see below).

For your bevel setter, I would start with 1000, not 2000, so you can expand your progression downward or to the left to include the most-awesome Shapton HR 500 while still maintaining the 3x rule:

round_down(3 * 500) = 1000
round_down(3 * 1000) = 3000
round_down(3 * 3000) = 8000

And then optionally substitute a 4000 for the 3000 if you are a traditionalist.

One man's opinion.

 

[Alum of Potash]

Titan are ground and assembled in the ROC (not PRC), Gold Dollar are PRC. I have honed more than three dozen Titan SRs from new. Like most factory finished edges, all came with compound bevels. I have never had any difficulties in honing any Gold Dollar or Titan SRs. You must have been just unlucky with the one Titan that you honed, like I was with one new TI SR once.

There are at least two SR manufacturers in Australia, SK Colling & Co. and DC Blades. I know the high quality of the Colling SRs, on par with Ralf Aust. DC Blades also have a good reputation but I have yet to get one of their SRs.

Thank you for your insights. I would like to continue with the Titans if and when the time comes, and it is quite possible that the Titan I honed was from around four years ago as it may well have been part of a kit sold with a denim strop at the time. If things have improved, so much the better, although it was kind of fun to rewrite things with the coarse and fine DMTs.

I'll have to look up the Australian razors you mentioned.

 

[GreazyThumbs]

I would have two recommendations after playing with a large spectrum of the normal players for honing:

1) Stay all natural and start with a Xx2 inch wide coticule and rub stone. If your coti is quality, you can learn to hone from bevel set, all the way through finish. Then once you have learned this, add a final finisher (JNAT / Vint Black Ark / Unlabled Thuri / Quality Slate from someone who has tested it). This is a harder path to learn, but in the long run, I believe the most rewarding and best results. To me naturals always feel better to my face (exception, that SG20K stone is nice, but pricey)

2) Synthetic Progression - Naniwa Super Stones or Comparable. 1K for bevel set and the progress thought 5k / 8k / 12k. This is by far the easiest progression to get consistent and quality results, however to me it feels a bit soulless. You could also swap out the 12k in your progression for a natural finisher (above) and get the best of both worlds.

Hope this helps and good luck on your journey.

 

[Doc Dan]

I got my glass board already and the lapping film is on the way. I can't wait to get started. I got 7 progressions from 1k to 12k. This is actually affordable.

 

[ehehat]

I got my glass board already and the lapping film is on the way. I can't wait to get started. I got 7 progressions from 1k to 12k. This is actually affordable.

Where did you get them? I'm also considering starting to hone my own razors and would not think I'd need a full progression if my SR's are shave ready to begin with. Maybe just a finishing stone and then CrOx on either strop or balsa?

 

[Doc Dan]

Where did you get them? I'm also considering starting to hone my own razors and would not think I'd need a full progression if my SR's are shave ready to begin with. Maybe just a finishing stone and then CrOx on either strop or balsa?

I got everything off of the internet. It is a local site, but you can get lapping film at Walmart.com and Aliexpress.com. It was all very cheap, too. The glass is a tempered glass shelf.

 

[H Brad Boonshaft]

“I got 7 progressions from 1k to 12k. This is actually affordable.”

Did you buy Lapping Film or Wet and Dry sandpaper?

You can hone on Wet and Dry, but it does not stick to glass like film will, you may need to glue it down if you plan to use it much.
You can buy 12X3 glass tiles for about $4. Glass is not flat, but can easily be flattened with a sheet of 220 on a flat surface.

Do use tape, if honing on Wet and Dry, they are abrasive and can remove a lot of spine width quickly if not careful.