Thread: Why does the Pyramid method works???

Razor honing is one of those things, where there are a lot of variables and formula does not always work.

It is much like learning a golf swing, where all the variables must be taken into consideration and what works for one may not work for the next guy. That is why there are thousands of books written on how to swing a golf club.

The given is that most razors are not straight, we all have different stones and all of us have a different conception of pressure. Very few of us have the exact same combination and even then the razor itself and the driver will be different.

The goal of bevel setting is to flatten the bevels and get them to meet in a straight line, the edge. Then proceed in a progression of finer stones, to polish the bevels and straighten the edge for more comfort.

As we hone the grit creates stria, a land and groove or mountain and valley. The land and groove end in a jagged edge. The more we minimize the height of the land, mountain, the straighter the edge. That is the goal of polishing the bevel and edge.

The main problem for the novice is pressure, and creating Deep stria, from too much pressure. A Pyramid allows the honer to go back to the lower grit and with lite pressure reduce the land/mountain height. If too much pressure is used, the pyramid does not work and often does not for novices.

It is just a simple formula for the novice to try to better polish, if it works you hear from those that it worked for, until they calibrate the correct amount of pressure for their stones and razor. We don’t hear from the ones that it does not work for and give up.

For much of this hobby what you do next, depends on what the problem is, the honer must first diagnose the problem.
So when it sounds like it is mystic and you will only know by doing, is because of all the variables involved in the diagnosis, the largest of which is the razor... and the honer, (the unknowns).

The opposite of a pyramid and progression honing, is one stone honing, where you use one high grit stone to set the bevel and finish. The problem with that is again, pressure. For most it would take too long and then they would use too much pressure, in an attempt to speed up setting the bevel and straighten the edge.

Pyramid honing is simply a way to speed up polishing a bevel with a lower grit, by alternating grits with lite pressure, sometimes it works for the novice honer, sometimes it does not.

YMMV