Would this be a decent start?

[Pumpkin]

I've quickly acquired several vintage straights (and a few GD's ) that I'm now itching to hone!

Even though most of the vintage blades came from ebay, I've been lucky to get none with any chips, dings or warped edges and any rust has been superficial and away from the edge, so they will just require lots of elbow grease and wet and dry paper to clean them up.

Bearing this in mind, will the following set-up be a good starting point?

600-1000 grit W&D Paper for setting a bevel (I've already got plenty and a flat sheet of glass to stick it on to).

5000/8000 set of stones (from the ebayer in Poland, $55 incl. shipping).

Chinese 12k (that I've already got and am comfortable refreshing my "shave ready" razors on).

If anyone has any experience with these stones, will they give me a decent, smooth edge? I'm not expecting immediate results and realise I will need some serious practice and experience to get anything remotely "shave ready"

I was planning on saving for a 150x50mm Standard Coticule ($112 incl. shipping) but I'd like to start honing sooner rather than later.

 

[Utopian]

I for one don't like the use of sandpaper for setting the bevel. Experienced honers have advised against it so I had to try it for myself. In my experience with just 4 or 5 razors, I see why it is not advisable. It causes too much damage that takes a lot of work to remove. Look at it this way, setting the bevel is the most important part of honing. Why would you want to shortchange your honing investment by avoiding a 1K hone? You can get a Norton 1k for $45 or a Naniwa 1k for $35. They are worth it.

 

[SliceOfLife]

And vintage Silicon/Aluminum 1k grit hones are basically free. Go to a flea market and buy one for $1. Hell, I've thrown several of the things out. They're worthless on eBay.

 

[chess1]

i have used every single stone you mention except 1 paper for setting bevel.
I would agree 100% with Ron. will better you buy naniwa 1k or shapton 1k for setting bevel.
i should say you will have a little more problems with your set.
your 5k is ok stone 8k will act same as 7k level and jump from it to Chinese 12k you will have to spend a little more time then you think.
I would say if you like to make your job a little easier buy naniwa 10k too. then you should be ok.
gl

 

[Utopian]

Ha! It's funny you suggest the 10k. Most people have no problem with going from 8k to 12k. Personally, I prefer to minimize every grit jump simply because of my experience with sanding. I've found that it's always better to minimize each grit jump, especially in the lower grits. For that reason, I have the complete Naniwa set. That is, the 220, 400, 1k, 2k, 3k, 5k, 8k, 10k, and 12k.

 

[Slash McCoy]

I am not a big fan of paper for honing, either, though it has its place. You want a 1k or similar stone. AlOx is okay if you don't want to pay for a proper waterstone. I would even say that a fine carborundum, if it is nice and flat, is usable, (it will require frequent lapping, though) or even a medium to hard arkansas stone. A cheap diamond hone in a coarser grit is nice to have sometimes for those ebay specials, because it makes for a lot less work and wear&tear on the 1k. And your 1k should be nice and flat! If it needs lapping, lap it. It is hard to set a nice bevel on an uneven stone.

I am okay with going straight from 8k to 12k. Currently I go straight from 1k to 6k to 12k... I don't have an 8k at present. But having more intermediate grit stones will reduce the wear on your stones and extend their life between lappings, as well as make the job go faster. Buying a 10k should not be ragarded as a waste of money... merely as something that would be nice to have though not essential.

If I had to pick one thing to stress it would be to use moderate to light pressure. A very thin blade, especially, will flex somewhat under pressure, and your bevel will suffer from it. Lighten your strokes as you get closer to finishing up on the stone and moving to the next. By the end, you should basically be using not much more pressure than the weight of the razor. It is tempting to bear down with a bit of weight sometimes, but that usually isn't the best approach.

Good luck, and have at it! It's not as mystical as some make it out to be. But yeah, I would try to avoid relying on paper for beveling.

 

[johnmrson]

I picked up a new 1k whetstone on the bay recently for something like $15.

 

[taffy]

I bought the nirwania combo stone on amazon uk, which at the time was reduced, which i can set a bevel on, also got the c12k, which i do find great, and just bought a 1g diamond stone and a dt, both again only came to £20, also as your in the uk, on the bay there is a shop that sells the king 1000/6000 for £24.

 

[Pumpkin]

Thanks for the input guys. I've done some shopping around and have found a 600/1000 combination stone in a local hardware store (hooray for bricks and mortar! ) it's 150x50mm and less than £10. It certainly looks like it will be easier to use than the W&D paper option that I was thinking of.