Whetstone for Straight Razor

BizWiz66

Hi,
I am quite new to wet shaving, I recently bought my first straight razor and a leather strop, however I need to get a whetstone in order to hone it properly. Could you please advise a good one?

Would this one on Amazon do the job? https://www.amazon.co.uk/Master-Class-Combination-Whetstone-inch/dp/B003ASDAGU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1478172818&sr=8-1&keywords=whetstone

I am looking for a good quality stone, possibly without spending more than 100€ max. Any advice is welcome.

Thank you!

hitemfrank

That stone will only set the initial bevel. To actually shave from you would want 12000 grit at least.

What razor did you get? Any new razor from a decent conpany should come sharp enough to shave with.

BizWiz66

hitemfrank wrote: »

That stone will only set the initial bevel. To actually shave from you would want 12000 grit at least.

What razor did you get? Any new razor from a decent conpany should come sharp enough to shave with.

thanks, would you have a link to a good one to recommend?

I got the razor on ebay from the US.

hitemfrank

Put up a picture of the razor so I can give more advice.

If its a vintage razor that needs to be honed, you likely won't just be able to go with a high grit - unless they honed it before sending it to you. You will need to work your way from lore grit to high grit.

Old razors from eBay can come with issues that may mean it's not with even worth trying to hone it.

BizWiz66

hitemfrank wrote: »

Put up a picture of the razor so I can give more advice.

If its a vintage razor that needs to be honed, you likely won't just be able to go with a high grit - unless they honed it before sending it to you. You will need to work your way from lore grit to high grit.

Old razors from eBay can come with issues that may mean it's not with even worth trying to hone it.

Thank you for getting back to me. I am not at home until Monday so won't be able to take a picture until then. Does the stone change based on the type of razor? it has carbon steel blade, if you could link a good website to buy honing stones it would be great

hitemfrank

Go to CableMonkey.ie and look for lapping film. Buy one sheet of each. Tell them to clearly mark which film is which micron rating. Should cost less than 15 quid without shipping.

Then get yourself something flat. I mean really flat. A piece of float glass or a small mirror.

When the lapping film arrives cut it into strips slightly wider than the razor. Put a few drops of water on the glass and then the film on top.

Use it like sandpaper. Start at 30 micron and move to lower and lower micron films.


Still, post a picture of the razor before you start honing it.

tunney

hitemfrank wrote: »

Go to CableMonkey.ie and look for lapping film. Buy one sheet of each. Tell them to clearly mark which film is which micron rating. Should cost less than 15 quid without shipping.

Then get yourself something flat. I mean really flat. A piece of float glass or a small mirror.

When the lapping film arrives cut it into strips slightly wider than the razor. Put a few drops of water on the glass and then the film on top.

Use it like sandpaper. Start at 30 micron and move to lower and lower micron films.


Still, post a picture of the razor before you start honing it.

Move the razor like a strop or a hone?

hitemfrank

tunney wrote: »

Move the razor like a strop or a hone?

Like a hone. Use light pressure and you won't cut into the film