hi guys, i have a strop with the green oxide powder which works well and another every day strop but i have never honed before and i am thinking of purchesing a barbers hone, as this would be the next,move to make and get to use this as a home hone or should i just send the razor,s of to be honed when i cant get an edge on them any more ,im shure i could get the hang of a barbers hone ,i just dont whant to muck up my razors what do you guys think.
Barber hones are very easy to use. You hold the barber hone in one hand, lay the razor on it on it so that the edge and spine are on the hone and move the razor in the direction of the edge while moving the razor sideways so that all of the edge touches the hone for part of the stroke. Just don't overdo it. Four or five strokes are usually enough.
Send the razor to be honed when it needs it for now. Learn to master your stropping technique first. Poor stropping will ruin a well honed edge and proper stropping will help you maintain a well honed edge. Also, if you have the chrome oxide paste, a barber hone is generally not going to help. If you want to get a hone, I highly recommend a Norton combination 4k/8k stone. It's all the hone you will need when you need to hone your razor again. From the Norton, you'd give about 10-15 passes on the chrome ox and strop on the leather for about 50 passes. A barber hone, while there are exceptions to this, will generally be rougher or very similar in grit to the chrome ox. This is, at least, my experience.
If you've been using the chrome oxide and strop a lot since getting the straight (leading to convexing of the edge), it is best to send it out to someone with the right gear to reestablish a proper bevel. Otherwise, a barber's hone might be able to revive the existing one, but caution on the side of fewer laps as already suggested.
My rationale is that the chromium oxide will tend to round the bevel and the barber hone will straighten it out. Then he would have to finish with the chromium oxide to get the smoothness he wants. I thought that was understood, guess not.
I was typing my post as you posted yours so I didn't see your original post. You are absolutely correct in what you say, no question on that. I based my response off of his comment about honing when he can't get an edge on his razor anymore using the chrome ox. In that case, neither chrome ox or a barber hone will reestablish an edge as easily as the Norton would. Maybe I misunderstood the question, though.
thanks for all you,r advice on this topick i do think that you,r right as i am a reall novice to honing i dont want to make a costly mistake i think ill use the green oxide powder strop,to try and bring a adge ,and cloth and lether strop as my daily stroping, and when edge goes and will not come back then send the razor out to an expert thanks for your help.
