I'm no expert, but I think you should strop before each shave - the amount differs depending on who you ask. I do 20 on cloth and 20 on leather. Honing frequency is variable, depending on how often you use the blade, and how well you strop - poor stropping can roll the edge and require honing.
The amount of full honing from bevel set an up, depends on how many old straights you buy Once the bevel is set and progressed to shave sharp, you'll most likely never need to do it again, unless you start opening boxes wit it . They may need some refreshment periodically. I touch mine up with a barbers hone when the blade starts tugging some. This is only 5-8 passes with no pressure. This takes about a minute. Again, frequency will depend on how often you use the razor. As an example; I got a new Dovo for Christmas. I use it about every two weeks. So maybe 16 shaves, or so: I just touched it up on the barbers hone last time I used it . I strop 25 passes on leather after the shave and 40 on linen, 50 on leather before the shave.
Like anything else, the learning curve is up to you. Every one learns at a different rate; some never learn at all.
Aloha! Been using a straight since I was 18, so many decades of experience. Spyder is spot-on. Back "In The Day" men would bring their razors to a barber and he would "touch them up" on his hone. This was only done periodically and it does not take long. Just a few passes. Stropping was the key to keeping the blade "Aligned" but not necissarily razor sharp. The hone was for sharpening. The biggest mistake many newbies make is thinking the strop is a hone. It was not intended to be such, and IMO is one of the reasons that newbies roll the edge. They are applying pressure and thinking that the leather is for sharpening (honing) the blade. The strop merely aligns the blade. The hone sharpens it. There are folks that do use the strop for finish-sharpening by adding compounds like CR-OX to the linen side of the strop to polish the blade a bit. I have read posts where guys are stropping like this for 10-15 minutes with hundreds of passes. I was taught to strop by a barber and he would not have this philosophy. Can you imagine a barber stropping for 10-15 minutes between shaves? It would put him out of business. He merely did 10-20 passes on a strop to put the blade back into alighment between shaves. Then he would touch up his blade on his barber hone once every week or so depending on his volume of shaves. So I follow this barber-taught philosophy. Once you have a good bevel set (this is paramount), then you can continue to hone to a finishing stone. Setting the bevel is absolutely key. From that point on unless there is abuse or damage or some sort of excessive wear, a barber hone (usually 10k -12k average) is used to touch up the blade to shave-ready. I have a 12k Jnat (Japanese Natural Stone) barber hone in my shave den for touch-ups that I also travel with in case I need to touch up the blade during travel. I also have a travel strop with me to keep the blade aligned. Some guys become students of the hone and learn to hone fairly well in a few months. Most take longer to learn to properly hone a blade to shave ready. I'm still learning and will probably continue to learn for the rest of my life. Honing is an art, and I suppose even someone who considers himself a honemeister is alway open to learning. Mahalo! -Zip
Excellent points! As for me, it took me a good 10 to 15 tries at honing to take a dull razor to shaving sharp. I feel fairly confident in my abilities now but am still learning with each and every razor. Every razor has a unique personality and thus each razor needs a little "modification" to its honing process. As I said, I feel confident in my abilities but I still haven't mastered the buttery smooth edges from guys like Glen @gssixgun. He has mastered obtaining an edge that's BOTH sharp and smooth. I agree with @ZipZop in that a "full" honing is rarely needed once the bevel and edges are set. If you are dulling the blade with stropping, then there are issues you need to address with your blade maintenance. Good luck to you
Agreed Five-0. It takes practice and patience to become a master honer like gssixgun. He and guys like Lynn Abrams are craft masters on the stones. With every razor hone, most get better. I always recommend to newbies that they do not START with a vintage blade. Go with a cheap razor that CAN take an edge like a Gold Dollar and try putting a shaving edge on that. This way you get experience setting a bevel, which is SO important, AND, you then progress to the finishing stones. Other cheap blades like the Cut Throat Gents model razor will also give you experience with full honing but they will also give you experience in curing "Burr" or Wire/Feather edges. Once you can hone a blade you don't mind trashing if you make big mistakes, THEN you can progress to a nice vintage razor that you will actually want to treasure. I've tried Lynn's method of "Circular" honing and I like it, but not on my bench 3" wide stones. I have adopted that method on my barber hones. I circle for 5 or 10 revolutions both sides of the blade, then "touch-up" hone back and forth x-stroke passes for about 5-10 passes and I'm done. My Barber hone is a 12k Jnat so the wear is very lean. Enjoy! -Zip
There have been some great points. The bevel set, which is the point in which the sides of the bevel meet and form a perfect apex from toe to heel. It is the foundation on which the whole process rests. It generally only happens once. From there it is polished and repolsihed as the shave readiness begins to fade. The identifying when the bevel is correctly set can be a stumbling point for many. I use a loupe to identify when it is set and when it is time to progress up. If you are good with your hands and can follow instructions well then the curve tends to be a little shorter. Your ability to attend meets can make dramtic differences too. I suspect that a lot more people maintain razors than hone them from scratch. Maintaining an edge can be done with a finish hone, a barbers hone, or a pasted strop. Stropping before and after every shave is paramount to edge longevity.
Honing? Only when the razor needs it. Stropping? Before or after every shave. Call me Mister Concise.
90/95 % of the Learning to Hone SRs is on the Bevel Hone..The Sooner One Learns to Set a Solid Bevel & to be Able to Shave with it from the 1 K Stone the Sooner the Learning Curve will Be..Also..I Would Suggest a Good Set of Synthetic Hones to Learn On..The Naniwa 1 K Chosera or Now Called the Naniwa Pro Range is Probably by Far the Best 1 K Stone on the Market Today..90/95 % of Ones Learning will be from that Stone.. Like a Domino Effect..The Rest will Fall Into Place from there.. Billy..
Taking the Hobby out of it See you REALLY have to understand that there are two completely different ends of the SR spectrum and many points between But if you take the "Hobby" out of the equation then you are dealing with simply shaving every day with a SR For 26 years I did that with a high-quality Arkie and Two SRs, then 10 years ago, I found the hobby side of it and you see the outcome of that hehehe You create a Maintenance schedule to fit our Razors and your face I have quite a few customers that do this still.. Once the razors are set up you have to figure out how many shaves they will go before they need a Hone touch up This might be weekly, bi-monthly even monthly, or longer, we can't tell you that as there are too many variables and that time might change as you get better with Shaving and Stropping Here my recommendations that I give every time somebody asks, I know they work as I have customers that I have had for years that only send me razors when they buy new ones or when they damage an edge.. Naniwa SS 12k this hone is VERY versatile and gives a great edge for a reasonable price ... Yes there are better stones and cheaper hones out there but you will be hard pressed to beat the Naniwa 12k in capable hands .. I used to recommend a Barber's Hone but the prices now on those have made the Naniwa a better buy Start out at every 2 weeks with a light re-fresh and work up or down from there as needed Good Luck
Aloha! Yes, I have to agree. My 12k Naniwa Super is, well, super. But I do have a small 12k Jnat for traveling that I also now have put in the shave den for touch-ups. I can't tell the difference between the Jnat and the Naniwa.... YMMV as each natural stone can be unique. So tha Naniwa is a safe bet. I was like GSSIXGUN in many ways. For many years I did what I had to do to keep my edge sharp. I was busy with my career and building a company and I sent my blades out for honing, then barber honed them myself after that for touch-ups. Now, I hone myself, having more time to devote to the "HOBBY" aspect,. Now, honing is a pleasure, not a chore. -Zip
I agree...for 98.7% of the time. Until that occasional difficult razor comes along that stubbornly refuses to yield a decent bevel, honing is a real pleasure!
Aloha! 'Tis true, sir. Just recently, I reconditioned a Yankee Wedge. What a genuine PITA putting a bevel on that blade! ARGH! But then I took a deep breath and said to myself, "Hey, you are supposed to enjoy this. So enjoy solving this riddle" But I finally got it, and now I feel like I accomplished something other than your normal 1k bevel set. I'm shaving with that wedge here in a few hours and will post it in Shave/Shower of the day and the Straight Razor threads. -Zip
