Honing your own straights - How to?

[SchoolForAnts]

So after being bitten by the straight razor bug, (and bitten once or thrice by the razor itself) - I'd like to learn how to hone my own straight to keep it shave ready.

Would @Mark or any other knowledgeable member care to share links and/or articles they recommend for me to commence looking at to learn to do it myself?

I'm also interested in what stones to consider buying etc to get me started.

Cheers!

 

[Mark]

This is a large topic. I have plently of resources but give me a little bit of time to put them together. This divides the topic into 2 groups. There are people that want to maintain their edges and keep them shaving sharp, then there are the hobbyists or enthusiasts that want to take it more seriously. Hones/stones are costly so we have another topic about budget vs needs and wants, this is where I'll be challenged so... I'll be back shortly with lots of info, how to's and resources, just need to work on arranging them in a good order so that everyone can benefit well from it

 

[SchoolForAnts]

Awesome, thanks @Mark

 

[Grey]

Cheers Mark. I'd be keen to hear too. After some initial enthusiasm on my straight I've started to favour my shavette because it's so much easier to have a sharp blade. I'd like to learn a bit more to maintain my blade, especially with regards to selecting a solid set of stones, without going too exotic/expensive.

 

[borked]

Interested too.

 

[Havachat45]

Might I humbly suggest viewing YouTube videos by gssixgun - watch all of them to get all the tips.
This is where I learned the art - he is straight down the line with no BS - FWIW.
BTW if you are anywhere near Ipswich, Qld I'd be happy to show you my methods and rocks
Hope this helps

 

[filobiblic]

Might I humbly suggest viewing YouTube videos by gssixgun - watch all of them to get all the tips.
This is where I learned the art - he is straight down the line with no BS - FWIW.
BTW if you are anywhere near Ipswich, Qld I'd be happy to show you my methods and rocks
Hope this helps

No where near Ipswich but thanks for the offer on top of the tip. [emoji106]

 

[Holiday]

This is a large topic. I have plently of resources but give me a little bit of time to put them together. This divides the topic into 2 groups. There are people that want to maintain their edges and keep them shaving sharp, then there are the hobbyists or enthusiasts that want to take it more seriously. Hones/stones are costly so we have another topic about budget vs needs and wants, this is where I'll be challenged so... I'll be back shortly with lots of info, how to's and resources, just need to work on arranging them in a good order so that everyone can benefit well from it

Hi all, did @Mark Ze Honemeister ever host said resources?

A couple of really useful videos I watched recently:

I now understand the burr based method and what is meant by maxing out the stone

I like a bit of science based evidence. This site goes into great detail about stropping and suggests its not about how many times you strop but what you are stropping with, and has the high magnitude images to prove it.

His recommendation that I have been testing this week 15 - 30 strops each denim 0.5 micron and leather 0.25 micron diamond paste after setting the bevel using above burr method and polishing on stones.

Quote from The Pasted Strop: "0.5 micron seems to be the optimum for the denim strop. However, we can do much better by following it with 0.25 micron diamond on a leather strop"

https://scienceofsharp.com/home/

Did not achieve the level of consistency and sharpness of blades honed by @bald as or @Substance but good enough for this DIY beginner to shave with