Thread: Paper testing razors

Originally Posted by Slurryer

So this evening the plan is to take the remaining two razors I use regularly, and put them on this hone as well. They both shave well now, but would like to see how they perform after using this hone. Is there anything I should do to prep this razor like going back to the 8K before I start on the La Roccia. With the insight I've picked up here, I hope to improve on the results I obtained the first go around. Since I've lapped this with 320 grit W/D I'm assuming that it will work more slowly than if I had used 600, as suggested above. Would 100 passes be good, starting with a light slurry, and water after every 10 passes?

I don't believe in so many of this and so many of that. Find a test to use that lets the razor tell you. When I rehone a razor that has been shaving, I first establish where the edge is. I will hone a few passes with heavy slurry or 1k-4k, just to see that the edge has degraded slightly the entire length, then I will finish as normal.
All razors are different. Where 30 laps may work on one, the next may need 50 or more. You learned to perform the HHT very quickly, and you have the right idea, of learning all you can from what the razor is trying to tell you. You noticed the difference in sound, regardless of what it indicated, if anything. Many here have established methods that work for them. Some may be a little hit or miss at times. I can not say enough that paper cutting tells me more about the razor edge than anything else I have found. Some slice grapes or tomatoes. Paper cutting may be a little neater, but still gets all over. But the paper cutting is what I used at the beginning of this to establish where the blade is now, and to establish when the entire edge had degraded slightly. And, it is how to find if continued lighter strokes will coax more from a particular stone. I have no doubt that this stone is not 15K, however, I believe I can get very nearly that grade of cut from it. Note: none of the thurys, etchers, or coticules ever stated what grit they were? And yet some experienced honers can get excellent shaving edges directly from some of these stones.
My earliest honing experience was to watch a friend of my dads pick a stone out of a creek, after throwing several back, and walk back to the porch to put an arm hair popping edge on his pocket knife using that stone. Was it the stone, or the man?
As mentioned by the last poster, have fun!