Thread: Interesting Blog about Edge Development.

Originally Posted by KenWeir

The scratches in his pictures should be smaller than 1/10 grit particle size?


Edit: that was a serious question. Scratch size/depth seems to be one of the things you disagree with that blog about, so I'd like to know your opinion. Just innocent curiosity.
I get that you question his ability/expertise. I don't know the guy so I haven't formed any opinion on that. I'm genuinely interested in any problems/contradictions/inaccuracies you may have noticed if you'd care to explain why a given thought path or conclusion is incorrect. The ultimate goal in my opinion is being able to learn something from any given situation so I'm all ears. After you've finished cleaning all that yellow chalk off your garage floor, of course.

You miss the point also
I does not matter whether I agree or disagree,,, the data is suspect therefore any conclusions are also suspect even if I agree 100%

Originally Posted by KenWeir

Nothing is absolute of course, but I'd be amazed if an expert honemeister with decades of experience would pay for access to an sem and spend weeks studying a hundred different razors at every stage on multiple stone combinations and publish a detailed study, which still may or may not be considered authoritative and definitive.

There was the Vorhaven study, but we do not know the Honing experience level there, so you have to kinda read and observe it all and take it with a grain of salt

Originally Posted by gssixgun

You miss the point also
I does not matter whether I agree or disagree,,, the data is suspect therefore any conclusions are also suspect even if I agree 100%

That's the part I was asking about.

I'm not trying to be obstinate Glenn. I may have worded my questions poorly. If I understood correctly then you suggested some of his methods for coming to those conclusions were questionable. I'm curious how you would have done it differently.

Glenn, I just received notification from YouTube that your videos have been pulled and are being reviewed for statistical accuracy.

This has been an interesting thread and I have learned something. But either way the pics are cool. Thanks Ken for the link

From his updates this year it seems that he has done quite a bit of honing since he started the blog. The images will help most people, provided you read the descriptions with them entirely and the comments from the author at the bottom. I tried his theory with microconvexing the edge after a 4k stone with Flitz on denim, then a 0.5 or 0.25 paste on leather. It does provide a good quality shave without much honing to begin with. It's nice to see what actually happens at each grit with both edge-leading and edge-trailing strokes, and the effect of stropping on the micron level.

I am fairly new to straight razor honing, so I may still be somewhat ignorant on the subject. But I do know that over the past year or so, I found myself watching many videos and studying various methods of honing, and nothing seemed to give my razors a decent edge. I became very frustrated. Then I stumbled upon the Science of Sharp Blog and used the "Simple Straight Razor Honing technique" (title outlined in red on the blog). I must say this technique of back honing, denim stropping with polish compound, and .25 diamond stropping gives absolutely fantastic results!

So my advice to any people new to honing and having difficulty, is try the "Simple Straight Razor Honing" technique described on the blog. I wish I had stumbled upon the blog a year earlier, because it would have saved me many hours of searching for various honing methods, none of which seemed to work very well. The Simple Straight Razor Honing method is such a simple method, and I can now produce an edge just as sharp and shave just as well as razors that I have received from SRD, Livi, and other professionals.

Good job finding a method that works for you, Vivaldi. Part of the fun of honing is discovering and developing a repertoire of techniques and tricks that give you a great edge.

As I like to say, there are many roads to sharp.

Originally Posted by Vivaldi

I am fairly new to straight razor honing, so I may still be somewhat ignorant on the subject. But I do know that over the past year or so, I found myself watching many videos and studying various methods of honing, and nothing seemed to give my razors a decent edge. I became very frustrated. Then I stumbled upon the Science of Sharp Blog and used the "Simple Straight Razor Honing technique" (title outlined in red on the blog). I must say this technique of back honing, denim stropping with polish compound, and .25 diamond stropping gives absolutely fantastic results!

So my advice to any people new to honing and having difficulty, is try the "Simple Straight Razor Honing" technique described on the blog. I wish I had stumbled upon the blog a year earlier, because it would have saved me many hours of searching for various honing methods, none of which seemed to work very well. The Simple Straight Razor Honing method is such a simple method, and I can now produce an edge just as sharp and shave just as well as razors that I have received from SRD, Livi, and other professionals.

Glad you found a method that works for you. Personally I don't care for the idea of intentionally putting a burr/foiled edge on the blade, but that's just me. Long as you're happy with the results that's what matters at the end of the day.

Part of me wonders what's simpler - a good 1 > 3/4/5 > 8K > Linen > Leather progression, or his 1K > 6K > pasted denim > Diamond paste progression. Might depend on your skill with a strop VS a hone? I certainly know I'm better with the latter than the former, but I'm improving both skillsets slowly.