Good, adequate, low-cost honing stone?

K

KHarper

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Jan 4, 2019
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Can anyone recommend a decent, workaday honing stone that would work for a straight razor without being too fancy or expensive? I'm not concerned with getting ultimate smoothness and comfort, and my razor is just an old Soviet straight razor. I figure millions of men shaved just fine with these things for decades, even if they didn't get quite the levels of sharpness and smoothness modern professionals do. I'd like a decent stone to hone it with; I have an old Pike EZ-Sharp, but I think it is too chipped and pitted to work properly. I can shave with the edge it gives, but not as well as I think it could do with a better hone. My budget is pretty limited, but I am wary about buying cheap stones since I have found most of them to be substandard and not the grit they say they are. There must be something reasonably priced and sufficient for normal use. Vintage or used would be fine.
Thanks.
 
I would go with a Norton fine India for the starter stone and it can be used for kitchen knifes, a 2" X 6" for 20$. Then a washita or soft Arkansas and a black hard Arkansas. These would give you a good shaving edge when used right. You could finish it on a strop but the black Arkansas will give you a good shaving edge right off it. A Charnley Forest stone is a great finishing stone but pricey. Good luck, DM
 
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About all I use these days for honing my knives is Spyderco ceramics. Their extra fine ceramic puts a hair popping edge on my S30V knives and I don't see why they wouldn't work for finer edges as well.

I plan to try them as well as a fine suede strop on some Feather DE blades and I'll try to remember to post my results.
 
Best bang for the buck new is a hard Black ark but you may need a stone in the 8k range to go with it depending on the condition of your razor.
If you are buying new go to Dan's Whetstones, if used look for a translucent. I do fine on 2"'x 4" or 5" but most folks prefer at least a 6".

Coticules are pretty good too and the smaller sizes can be had at a decent price. They cover more range than a hard ark and are much faster too. But the stones can be challenging at first to get the most out of them, some folks never get it.
 
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