What hone(s), paste(s), or spray(s) do I need?

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The choice of hones (and even the use of them in general when it comes to refreshing a blade) is considered one of the most personal issues in straight shaving. There is a saying "There are 5.000 ways to cook a chicken. You know X amount." The same may well be true when it comes to honing a razor. We have therefore compiled a number of thoughts on the subject. The below list is neither authoritative, nor is it complete. Rather, it is intended as an indication of what choices are available. Which, if any, of them will work for you is ultimately down to personal experience, skill, and the combination of razors and hones used.

Refreshing vs. Starting from Scratch

The types of hones required first and foremost depends on the type of honing you want to do.

Hones needed for refreshing a dull blade

If the only task you want to perform is refreshing edges that have previously been established by a honemeister (the process is often refered to as "touching up" on SRP), you need only get a fine grit finishing stone or a barber's hone for this. Either of these hones can keep your razor(s) shave ready for years.

Hones needed for restoring razors

However, if you want to set a bevel, or have many different types of razors, you will need a full set of hones. When compiling the list below, we tried not to mention brand names, not least because there are simply too many different hones (and a corresponding number of opinions).

A full honing setup

A full setup of hones will include, but not necessarily be limited to, the following hones[1] :

A bevel setting stone approximately 1k grit 
DMT's 325 600 1200, Shapton 1K and 2K, Coticules with slurry
A sharpening stone approximately 4k grit 
DMT 8000, Norton 4K, Shapton 4K and 8K, Belgian Blue with slurry
A polishing stone approximately 8k grit 
Norton 8k
A finishing stone 10k and above (this is often subject to debate, however) 
Chinese 12K, Shapton 16K and 30K, Nakayama, Coticule with water[2]

You have several choices of how to accomplish this setup whether you use natural, man-made stone, or Diamond style, but you are going to have to be able to cover those 4 grit ranges. There really is no true short-cut here if you expect to take razors acquired in state of restoration from butter knife dull or damaged to shaving sharp: You are going to end up needing these types of stones.

Why choice is important

Some people get different results with the same hone. Likewise a Norton 4k/8k vs. a DMT D8EE will get you to the same relative place; but most folks will have a distinct preference using one or the other. The point to be kept in mind is that one of those hones will likely fit a person's individual honing style in a way that simply gives them better results.

Barber hones such as Swatys and such were used to do quick touch ups of an already sharp razor. Some of the barber hones are finer than others and they have their fans.

Coticules are a natural stone cut from sedimentary rock. They were the mainstay of barbers for many years and are still favored by some. They are versatile in that you can create slurry by rubbing them with another stone and they will cut faster or you can use them with water only and they will be more of a finisher. Some old barbers would use the lather from their hot lather machines.[3]

Water stones is a large category which includes the fore mentioned stones as well as other naturals such as the Escher and Thuringan family and the many synthetic hones. The Norton 4/8 used to be the recommended hone for beginning straight razor users until the Shapton Glass Stones came along. Now it seems to be a tossup though some experienced members of SRP think that the Norton is more user friendly for inexperienced honers.[4]

Since natural stones are composed of whatever sedimentary material time and weather dictated there are variations in their characteristics. They will be similar generally speaking but some will cut faster while others may be more suited to finishing. The synthetics being man made are more uniform in composition and therefore more predictable. Doing the homework to learn which grits to use will get a razor sharp once the honing skills are developed using naturals or synthetics.[5]

In addition, the beginner's no-lapping kit (which gets often recommended on SRP) is a DMT D8EE and 0.5 chrome oxide on a paddle. This will work for many people, but some folks simply do not like the feedback that they get from a diamond hone. Others, with coarser beards, do not like pastes because the edge they get will not last as long as a honed edge.

See also

References