Tales of the Nippon Honing Miracle Worker
I just thought I would share some pearls or wisdom with all the japanese Straight fans out there who have interest in honing these things.
One of the members asked me if I would look at a vintage straight he had originally gotten so I said sure, assuming it was just a typical touchup job and of course you all know what what happens when you assume too much. So I got the thing and to my horror not only did it not have any edge but the bevel had gone bye bye. The thing looked like someone tried either using a kitchen sharpener, the electric kind or some 100 mesh diamond hone for one too many passes.
Now I have a Tosuke and I have an iwasaki and I've honed a few of them however bevel recreation is another story. I really didn't have a clue but as I thought about it some sobering things hit me. If I tape the edge because of the way the symmetry goes do I have to put differing layers of tape on each side? Unlike western razors where the spine is the part where you have to worry about hone wear with this on the convex side the entire razor is in full contact with the hone at all times so what about that? Also as I found out if you tape it the tape doesn't last but a few strokes and you need alot of strokes with this thing.
So the experiment began. I tried to be mindful of the recommended honing stroke ratio's and grit recommendations but as I painfully learned that all went out the window very quickly. So I started with the recommended hone, a 12K Kitayama and of course that is useless for bevel recreation though I thought maybe with a lot of pressure it might work. It didn't. So I fell back to the Belgian Blue. That didn't work either. So I fell back to the Norton 4K. Using the recommended honing ratio I had a very nice bevel on the concave side but nothing on the convex side. So to make a long story short I wound up treating the two sides of the razor as though they were two razors. Once the concave side had the great bevel I moved up to the Norton 8K and then the coticule and then .5 diamond pasted strop and then Cr0 pasted strop. That side of the razor shaved great. Then back to the Norton 4K on the convex side until I had the faintest hint of a bevel (which is the way they are) and then duplicated the rest of the honing routine as I had done with the concave side. Then I test shaved with it and it worked. A tad rough but a very close shave. Before I sent it out I gave it some more passes on the Cr0 and I guess it worked.
Is this the proper way to do it? I havent the faintest clue but it seemed to work. Oh and another problem was that the convex side had an area that was a tad lower than the rest. When I started the razor was matte and when I finished it was highly polished in places-most places. I don't see a solution to that. Taping is not practical and considering the hundreds of honing strokes I think I was able to keep the spine wear to a real minimum.
I guess I should have done a before and after picture but I didn't think I would be writing this then or that I would be successful.
So what did I learn? As with any honing project you have be resourceful and try everything you can think of and then some and be willing to throw out the recommended stuff sometimes. For normal touchups I would still do the recommended method but for more intensive stuff these razors can take alot of honing and still retain their symmetry. But that finish preservation, I still can't figure that one out.
