Honing and Strops?? How many

Use a straight. You know it makes sense.
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shavedhead
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Joined: Wed May 02, 2007 2:10 am

Honing and Strops?? How many

Post by shavedhead »

I have a Nortion 4000 (white) and 8000 (yellow). How many hones on the white and yellow do you recommend?? How many times on a strop do you recommend? How many strops daily after shaving? This is my struggles to try and reach a good number and balance. Please help
Have a wonderful shaving day
loueedacat1
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Post by loueedacat1 »

I don't use nortons, but if you check under pyramid method at straightrazorplace.com you should be off to the races.

strop daily, about 20 on linen and 80 on leather, before each shave.
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TstebinsB
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Post by TstebinsB »

It's hard to say without first knowing the state of your razor. Are you honing a new razor? Have you set the bevel? Are you refreshing the edge?
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matt321
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Post by matt321 »

Right, it all depends. Is this the first honing or is this just a touch-up?

For stropping I normally do about 25 on canvas then 50 on leather. If the edge is freshly honed I would do more.
brothers
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Post by brothers »

I've been at it for a little over a year and a half. I'm still not satisfied that I've found what works best for me. For starters, I got a set of Nortons and a couple of extras, a lapping stone and a tray, for example, from Peachtree. Following the instructions of Chris Moss and Lynn Abrams, and others, I've been able to achieve good sharp shaving edges on many razors.

Here's a caution: It's easy to read too many other guy's widely varied experiences online at the shaving forums, many of them highly experienced experts, with dozens of hones valued at thousands of dollars at their disposal, but it is easy for a newcomer to become confused with all of the large variety of honing and stropping products available.
Gary

SOTD 99%: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, soaps & creams, synthetic / badger brushes, Colonial General razor, Kai & Schick blades, straight razors any time, Superior 70 aftershave splash + menthol + 444
shavedhead
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Post by shavedhead »

my razor has been honed before. I just can not get that hair popping sharpness
Have a wonderful shaving day
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AxelH
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Post by AxelH »

I think a microscope would be your best friend here. 10 bucks for a 60x-100x microscope at Radioshack.

If it was shaveready to begin with you only need to refresh it on the finest hone you have, which at this point is the 8,000 Norton.
Lover of cold, hard steel.
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drmoss_ca
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Post by drmoss_ca »

You will need a very light touch on a Norton 8k (and just the right number of strokes) to pop hairs. To get that particular effect, you will need either a finishing hone (Shapton, Naniwa, lapped Spyderco UF etc etc) and a strop with some green chrome paste. If you are pretty good with the 8k, just the strop and paste will do. Trouble is, you can always do better and there is no end in sight as you asymptotically approach the perfect edge....

Chris
"Je n'ai pas besoin de cette hypothèse."
Pierre-Simon de Laplace
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