Thread: Get in line!

Originally Posted by Andy77

And yes- Kentucky over Duke by 12.

Hahaha. Now that's how you hijack a thread. I'm for duke even though I don't get into Basketball. Lol. But back to point thanks yall for pointing out a problem that for some strange reason was not clicking in my mind. I guess so focused on one thing that I wasn't seeing the obvious right in front of my eyes.

You can see in the lower area of the pics that the bevel is not set.

The chippiness may also be due to the steel.. You don't say what make the razor is.

Yes, the bevel is not set, completely.

You can see in the 1K photos, that you are not reaching the edge.

There is also a “Rail Road Track” stria to the left (on the first Photo) and below a deep 45 degree stria in the center of each photo.
That stria should have been removed at 4K.

With each stone you are getting more of the edge but still not completely.

Re-set the bevel with ink and 1k with a bit of pressure, then re-ink and remove all the ink with the 4K. You bevel should straighten out at about 8K and be a bit straighter with each progression. More magnification will give you a better view of the edge.

I don’t really see a lot of difference in your photos, post 1K, from 8k on the difference should be dramatic, lots more polish and finer stria.
You may want to add a bit of pressure and check the corners of your stones, bevel or round them a bit. Alternating your finishing strokes from straight to heel leading with every other stone will quickly tell you if you are removing the previous grit’s stria.

As said depending on the steel, you may need a bit more pressure and do more laps.

I will follow along with your recommendations and do a bevel reset, even though I am confident that the bevel was set per your method of looking down on the edge at 20x under a bright light and seen no reflection (no pics of that). But what I think you might be seeing is a lack of focus from the scope and my phone, because with how the scope is setup I could not get the plane of the bevel and the edge to focus at the same time, this I can tell you that there is a possibility that what you are seeing is unfocused refracted light not the edge itself, because when I took these photos it was for me to compare each grit and not to examine the edge itself. The pics were only posted because someone asked and they were all I had. If I knew this was the direction that this thread would go I would have had focused pics of the edge. And it was a beast to get the phone to get a good focused pic looking through the eye piece since the slightest move even to touch the screen to take the pic resulted in loss of image and focus.

So though I disagree because you can only examine the only recorded visual evidence I have, I am willing to give the benefit of the doubt and say I'm very possibly wrong and willing to try again, because of my lack of experience and you all have many many more razors under your belt than I do (I have only done handful of sessions). Thus respectfully disagreeing but willing to go in there and try again and possibly (most likely) prove myself wrong.

Now as to the deep stria part. I am in full agreement and need to fix that.

Originally Posted by rlmnshvstr8

Hahaha. Now that's how you hijack a thread. I'm for duke even though I don't get into Basketball. Lol. But back to point thanks yall for pointing out a problem that for some strange reason was not clicking in my mind. I guess so focused on one thing that I wasn't seeing the obvious right in front of my eyes.

At least give me credit for providing input on the post before!

I once read that you can't overdo bevel-setting (thought you can remove quite a bit of metal), and you also can't over-do the 4/5k step. While I've never gone to the extremes and tested the theory, it's something I keep in mind when I hone.

So long way to say I agree with most of what's been said.

Originally Posted by rlmnshvstr8

But what I think you might be seeing is a lack of focus from the scope and my phone

I did consider this as the focus is clearer towards centre & top. Nonetheless the roughness in the edge should be addressed by 4k unless as I said before it is the nature of the steel.

My suggestion to you for actually studying the scratches is to for each stone use a different honing angle so that the scratches from the previous stone run at a different direction. This will give you a better idea at how the work progresses.

good luck
Alex

1. What razor you are using?
2. Are your stones well lapped?
3. After lapping, are you rinsing the stones well? No slurry right?
4. You are wiping your blade after each stone right?

Bevel set
I assume you are using the Shapton GS series with the 16K mentioned. I've been using the GS series for a while now and from what you are showing me is a pressure issue. The gs stones are quite aggressive and I have a few suggestions for you. When honing on the 1K, after bevel-set (whatever method you use as long as you know it's effective), I want you to start hand honing. NO holder, just the stone in your hand from 4K up. This will help to train you to not use so much pressure.

Pre-Polish
WHen you move to the 4K, it shouldn't take many strokes at all. If you reach 30, most likely you have gone too far...but at 4k it is no issue. What the gs series offers is superb feedback and if you are paying attention you will start to notice "stiction" or a drag of the razor going over the surface of the stone. Once you notice it evenly on both sides (normally around 15-20 strokes), do 2-3 more and move to the 8K.

Polish
On the 8K, again...it shouldn't take many strokes at all. If you reach 20, you most likely have gone too far. You should start to notice the "stiction" around that 10-15 strokes...again: Once you notice the "drag" evenly on both sides, do 2-3 more and move on to the next stone.

Finish
Now, here is something else: pick one or the other. For me personally, I have moved my 16K to the bathroom to use as a barber hone (best barber hone ever!) and my 20K is with my stones. The 20K is a super fast stone like the GS stones and you will get the same feedback. Once you notice the "drag" evenly on both sides, do 2-3 more and stop. I don't care what razor you are using, if you are going over 20 strokes, you are just wasting steel and most likely your edge.

You are using some great stones & with a bit of learning their feel...you will become a great honer in time. Let the stones and razor tell you what they need. If you wish, pm me your phone number and we can talk a bit to help you along.

Inking the bevel will quickly tell you if you are reaching the edge.

You may be right, it is hard to diagnose a problem from a photo, but either way, you are not removing the previous stria and do still have 1k stria post your finish stone, which leads me to believe it is not too much pressure issue, it is too little pressure at low grits or too few laps.

So ink it and re-set the bevel on the 4k with circles, it should not take long, as the bevels are already flat, circles will quickly remove the 1k stria. Ink will tell you if you are reaching the edge.

Worst case, you are close.

Originally Posted by shooter74743

1. What razor you are using?
2. Are your stones well lapped?
3. After lapping, are you rinsing the stones well? No slurry right?
4. You are wiping your blade after each stone right?

1. A Dixie mfg co. Vintage, either a 4/8 or 5/8

2. To the best I think I can. Minimum 2 grid laps if not 3 using a worn DMT 325

3. Yes. Rinse, wipe with hand under stream and final rinse

4. Yes after each set of laps I would wipe and to clean the edge better I would do a few palm strops

and thanks for the offer I need all the help I can.

And Euclid, I went ahead and tried to do a bevel reset, and done 2 very light breadknife strokes on the corner of my Chosera 1k. And spent probably 3 hrs trying to set the bevel and I hit a wall trying to focus on my pressure since I think that was where my problem lies. That is the reason it took so long plus writing down EVERYTHING I did. The wall was I kept seeing this super fine line under the light and 20x loupe but yet I was passing all the other tests (TNT, pioping arm hairs with ease all across the edge, and I think the TPT though I'm still calibrating). So I went to the 2k in hope that I could get both the stria and line to disappear. Well the stria did but the line remained. After another hour on the 2k ( granted I was using almost no pressure On the 2k), I thought "well maybe I'm seeing a "mirage" of a line rather than an unset bevel, thus I went on through my progression to the 8k being very careful to remove all previous stria. I got a good test shave off the hone with no stropping so I thought I would move on. Got great results on the 20k so I stropped tested then shaved. Now granted I shave my head and had about 2 weeks worth of growth to go through. But before I got there my face ATG was cutting but not so well by the time I got to my head the end of the shave was uncomfortable. And when I was done some of the edge would still pop hairs some would not. Disheartening. So obviously the line was not an imagination. And I paid for it.