Advice on hones required

[Smalleyboy]

I'm new to straights and currently using a Wapi which came shave ready and I also have a small Dovo strop. I plan to get another strop with a canvas back and then use my existing strop with paste. This should take care of my stropping needs.

The advice I need is regarding hone selection. At some point I shall need to hone my Wapi and any future razors I acquire. In preparation of this I have bought a couple of older razors on e-bay with which I can learn the basics of honing. I have done some research and the forums here are great for newbies. On the basis that I shall need to hone razors in my rotation and perhaps a bit more work on any older straights I buy, which of the following would be my best option. For the purposes of this exercise lets ignore cost and focus on the right kit for the job.

Option 1
Norton combination 4000/8000 stone. Appears to be really popular.

Option 2
Norton combination 1000/4000 stone and a belgian yellow coticule. I believe this option would give me more width of honing possibilities, although I'm unclear as to how often the 1000 Norton would be of use.

Any advice, thoughts or comments welcomed.

[Russel Baldridge]

I'd vote option #2, plus a coticule slurry stone. there's a guy that sells some small cheap ones on ebay, but the extra shipping might outweigh the savings of just buying it with the hone. http://www.theperfectedge.com/belgian.shtml

The coticule is a one stone touch up progression in and of itself. The slurry is about as aggressive as 6-8k, and the plain surface with just water can be up to 10k. So it is all you need to maintain razors.

The 1k/4k would be very versatile for restoring old worn blades, but wouldn't see much use after they are made shave worthy.

[Smalleyboy]

Thanks for the info Russell.

I didn't realise the difference the slurry stone makes to the aggressiveness of the coticule. I have already checked out the perfectedge website and they seem to be one of the best for belgians.

So the yellow belgian will keep razors with an edge sharp and then the norton 1k/4k would be used for any heavy duty work on old razors.

[Bart]

+1 on what Russel said. (It's becoming a habit )

If you go with the coticule, I would buy a DMT-E, instead of that Norton 1000/4000. The coticule is perfectly capable to handle the scratch pattern from a DMT-E. The advantage is that a DMT never needs to be lapped flat, and it can be used for lapping other hones, such a the coticule, that does need very occasional lapping. If I'm not mistaken Theperfectedge caries them too.

Bart.

[Wildtim]

The Voice from the other side here.

I'd go with the 4000/8000 Norton first. Unless your blade is badly messed up it won't see the 1000 much and if it is badly messed up you can always go with the cheap sandpaper option to get it to where the 4000 can handle it.

There a re a bunch of reasons to have an 8000 grit stone in your arsenal:

Some razors and some guys do really well shaving with the edge right off the 8000 so thats worth a shot. Getting a comfortable shaving edge off the 8000 is a bit of a challenge but it is very possible with good steel and will teach you a lot about honing along the way.

Since there are a million finishing options out there some of which are not suitable for dealing with a 4000 grit edge you will probably end up with something in the 8000 class anyway if you want to try other things, like pasted strops, for finishing down the road.

The 4000/8000 grit pyramid method of honing is well documented and is the easiest way for a guy to learn to hone reliably.

Good luck whatever you decide!!!

Have fun honing

[jnich67]

I'm not a honing expert, but I tend to agree with Tim here. I have the Belgians and a few other stones. I'm always playing around with them, but I find I get the most consistent results from the Norton 4/8 then finishing with .5 paste (chrome ox).

Either way, I'd say pick your course and master it before being distracted by all the various options you see kicked about here. Once you can get good results on a regular basis, then play with new stones if you want. Just my two cents.

Jordan

[Russel Baldridge]

The 4k/8k is definitely an easier route, not denying that, but I never got a truly comfortable edge off my norton 8k and am not the only one to have such an experience. The coticule, on the other hand, has provided comfortable edges to nearly everyone who has tried it. So it gets my recommendation as it is more likely to give the best edge possible, even if it takes a few extra tries to make it work (though it really isn't much different from the Norton and there is actually a lower chance of overhoning the edge).

A set of Belgian stones and 1k sandpaper would also be a versatile setup that would produce great edges, and cost about as much as the 1k/4k and coticule.

But the choice is yours and the other options work well, too.

edit: The way I look at it, you'll spend $20 per razor to have them honed professionally, so if you want to learn to hone them for your self, you need to be sure that the price you pay for a stone will be favorable as compared to how many razors you'd need to send out. You will, more than likely, save money either way you go.

[JimmyHAD]

I have no personal experience with the coticule but I can highly recommend the Norton 4/8. That and Lynn's video got me on the right track for honing my own. I like the feedback I get from them. Correct me if I am wrong but with the Norton being a man made stone I'm assuming they may be more consistent then a natural stone.

[Russel Baldridge]

I have no personal experience with the coticule but I can highly recommend the Norton 4/8. That and Lynn's video got me on the right track for honing my own. I like the feedback I get from them. Correct me if I am wrong but with the Norton being a man made stone I'm assuming they may be more consistent then a natural stone.

Any natural stone will vary in performance slightly from one to the next, but you would have to seek out a truly inconsistent piece of Coticule.

Especially if you buy one form Howard at theperfectedge.com, he personally inspects them prior to shipment.

That said, I have 5 different sizes and shapes of coticule that all came from different places (most looked like junk from being misused or neglected for decades), the coarsest specimen is finer than the Norton 8k and none are detectably inconsistent.

[Smalleyboy]

Looks like the jury is out on Norton vs Belgian. It seems both types have keen followers, and there is plenty of posts on the forums about using the 4k/8k setup. I shall do a bit more reading around the subject.

The yellow belgian with water could be as fine as 10k, if going down the Norton route what would you use after the 8K stone, pasted strop??