Thread: HALF LAP HONING BURR MAKING?

HALF LAP HONING

Recently in another thread the subject of half lap honing came up and the technique was described by some.

I have been a fan of Alex Gilmore’s Ax Method for years and it has produced great results on a variety of stones from synthetics, and Jnats to Arks.

Experimenting with this technique, noted results can vary. If you do back and forth strokes, (note: not the stroke use in the Ax Method), you can/ will create a burr. How large a burr, is dependent on stone grit and technique.

When you do back and forth strokes, half of your strokes are edge trailing. Edge trailing strokes puts the pressure on the back of the bevel and can lift the edge off the stone or make lite contact with the edge. It will also create a longer burr as the excess steel does not get ground off and extends past the straight edge into a ragged edge.

So, on the edge trailing strokes you are either honing on the back of the bevel or creating a burr, unless you have good technique.

The Ax Method is the use of edge leading strokes only. The razor is lifted off the stone for the return stroke. And to minimize any burr created, the stroke count is reduced by half until you are doing single strokes flipping the razor with each set of strokes. For example, 20,10,5,3,2, and 1 stroke.

I have found that you can use a back and forth, edge leading and trailing stroke in the lower grits, bevel setting and mid grit stones, for more aggressive honing. Just cut off the burr once the bevels are flat and or polished.

On your final finishing stone, after jointing the edge to remove any burr and straighten the edge, do only edge leading strokes to prevent creating a burr, and to make a straighter edge.

I have noticed, great edge improvement, on the finishing stone by cutting off the burr with a single jointing stroke and finishing with just edge leading strokes.

You can easily test this technique, by finishing a razor with half lap, back and forth strokes, and shave with the razor, then joint the edge and finish on the same stone, using only edge leading strokes and test shave.

What are your thoughts and experience?

I do a similar stroke heel leading. I saw it long time ago on a video made.by Alex Jacques. I don't join though. I did at one time but didn't feel like it did anything for me.

I tried the jointing thing many times and never found it beneficial. Maybe different honers with a different fist might benefit from it. As for edge leading only, half lap sets on a side, sure that works fine. I use back and forth simply because it takes off the steel faster, not because it makes for a better edge. For making the best edge for the least hone action, one-way half laps probably are slightly more efficient, in large partly for the reasons you state.

I use the Ax Method and find it helps me to speed up the outcome. I can get thru the progression quicker this way.
As far as back or forth, I try to cut down on that. If I'm doing edge trailing it's very lightly. I know at the lower grits it does help get the bevel set much faster. I also find killing the edge lightly and then going back to the last stone for just a few laps before moving to the next stone is what works best for me.

So I'm with ya on this way if honing Marty. Synthetic or natural. It just works! That's my opinion.

Yet Kamisori Honing uses Back and Forth aka Japanese Honing kinda puts the Kabosh on many of the detractions to using it

Now I guess you can discuss the asymmetrical bevel and the uneven stroke counts as the reason it works

I however think it is more about the pressure shift while honing to avoid a Burr/Rough harsh edge
You can use the same pressure shift on Western Blades,,, well I can anyway

"Yet Kamisori Honing uses Back and Forth aka Japanese Honing kinda puts the Kabosh on many of the detractions to using it"


No, not really. Kamisori honing, and the stroke are different, because you can use more pressure and avoid the issue described.

Yes, an experienced honer could avoid any issue, using the technique with Western razors, but pressure will still be greater on the leading edge. Spine leading vs Edge leading, unless you apply the pressure to the edge, but applying that kind of pressure on a hollow ground western razor can cause other issues, especially for less experienced honers.

The post is geared towards new honers who cannot set a bevel. Who are not honing to the edge, and do not understand why?

As with all razor honing, there are many roads, and which technique and stone(s) we use does not matter if it produces the desired results.

Most of the Kamisori honing I have seen using Jnats by experienced Japanese honers, use edge leading finishing strokes, which minimize a bur, but like honing Western razors, there is more than one way to hone a razor.

The point of the post was to get others, especially new guys to look at their bevels and edges and better understand what they are seeing. As I said, I am a fan of the technique and use it on almost all razors with great results but edge leading finishing laps improves results for me.

A new guy slapping a razor on a 1k stone and doing large number of half laps 20-30, on each side, not looking at the bevel with enough magnification or knowledge, to understand what is occurring is a problem.

Look at it with magnification and get a better understanding of what is occurring and why. And if you do create a bur, it is not the end of the world, joint it and re-set the edge.