Introduction
This page was created from Joel's Interactive Guide to Straight Razor Shaving and can be discussed in this thread[1].
Spyderco Hones (Medium, Fine, Extra Fine)
Spyderco hones are very neat/interesting hones that are not talked about too terribly often, however they are inexpensive, hard as can be, incredibly flat, and just about the easiest hone to use, as they can even be used dry! Dry, with water, with lather--all extremely effective. These hones come in 3 different grits, medium (which has a brown color hone, with dark blue honing station), Fine (a white color hone with a light blue honing station) and Extra-Fine (a white color hone with a black honing station). The medium cuts incredibly fast and removes a lot of steel, the fine and ultra fine cut pretty quickly as well. The ultra-fine creates and incredibly fine/delicate edge, and works quickly and easily wet or dry. Cleaning the hones is a snap. A little powdered cleaner and a green scotch brite pad and they'll look good as new. These hones are incredibly hard (being ceramic) and the fine and ultra-fine will show no wear with use, and the medium will show minimal wear with use. These hones are 2" X 8" X .5"
Pros
- Reasonably priced, decent sized and work well.
- Cut very quickly/easily.
- Can be used dry, with water, or with lather.
- Minimal maintenance.
Cons
- Must use an "X" honing pattern
- Miserable to lap because they are so hard.
- Very heavy.