Thread: Get a razor honed by a guru. Really. I mean it.

Recently Glen aka gssixgun made me a very generous offer; to hone one of my razors so I would have a benchmark to measure against. Needless to say, I took him up on it.

When I got my razor back, it was sharper than I thought physically possible. I cut the sh1te out of myself trying to use it. I had no idea how to shave with something that sharp.

By the 3rd shave, the edge had calmed down enough (or I got used to it enough) that the bloodbath ended. But seeing what a really sharp edge is supposed to be like opened my eyes, & revealed many problems with my honing technique. Since I suspect these mistakes are common, I'll list them in order of importance.

-- Not doing enough work on the 1K to establish a good bevel. You should be able to shave with it (albeit not comfortably) right off the 1K. If it won't shave hair, it doesn't have a bevel yet. Make sure you test it at several points along the edge.

-- Not doing enough work with each hone to erase the scratch pattern of the previous hone. Use a jeweler's loupe. Look at what you are doing. It may only take 5 laps to freshen an edge, but it might take 50 to remove a scratch pattern. The work will decrease as you progress through the grits because the scratch patterns you're trying to erase are getting finer & finer.

-- My finest hone was not all that fine. A Lithide barber hone feels smooth to the touch, but it's somewhere in the neighborhood of 8K grit. Rectified by buying a Chinese 12K at my local Woodcraft.

-- Thanks to Puffah, I discovered that barber hones are particularly prone to raising a burr. Finish with 2-4 back-strokes, toe leading, then 3-5 forward strokes, to remove the burr.

-- Using pastes to mask problems with my honing.

My edges are starting to get much better. If any of you have never had a professionally honed edge to compare your own work against, I highly recomend getting one.

I have been toying around with the idea of doing this myself, just to see...

Sorry you cut yourself rather badly with a really sharp razor.
However, it sounds like you are really learning a lot!!!
Congratulations on the progress!

Originally Posted by netsurfr

Sorry you cut yourself rather badly with a really sharp razor.

It's OK. Bones knit, wounds heal, & chicks dig scars

Johnny J that is great news! And very thoughtful (and useful) of you to list out those honing issues as you did. Thanks!

Don't want to off-topic this too much, but have you tried that razor on your head yet? Has it made a difference to your head shaves?

James.

Well I am glad to hear it was sharp I am glad you got it all dialed in now....
I hope the learning cuts were not too painful

Originally Posted by Jimbo

Johnny J that is great news! And very thoughtful (and useful) of you to list out those honing issues as you did. Thanks!

You betcha. I get so much from this place, I can only hope to contribute 10% of what I receive.

Originally Posted by Jimbo

Don't want to off-topic this too much, but have you tried that razor on your head yet? Has it made a difference to your head shaves?

I have not tried that razor on my head because I always seem to roll the edge when I shave my head. I want to accumulate good statistics on the longevity of Glen's reputedly durable edges against my steel-eating beard from the depths of hell. I did, however, do what I should have done (but didn't) when I was learning to shave my face: I picked up a DE to do most of my head, while I slowly expand my comfort zone with the straight. I started out doing just the top with the straight. By now I can do the top & sides with a straight, but I can't do the back at all. Hopefully I'll eventually be able to do the whole thing with the straight.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

I hope the learning cuts were not too painful

Actually the freaky thing is I didn't feel them at all.

Originally Posted by Johnny J

-- Thanks to Puffah, I discovered that barber hones are particularly prone to raising a burr. Finish with 2-4 back-strokes, toe leading, then 3-5 forward strokes, to remove the burr.

That's exactly how a 75 year old barber in my town showed me how to use a barber hone (back hone a few strokes toward the end then a few forward).

Chris L

Originally Posted by Johnny J

-- Not doing enough work on the 1K to establish a good bevel. You should be able to shave with it (albeit not comfortably) right off the 1K. If it won't shave hair, it doesn't have a bevel yet. Make sure you test it at several points along the edge.

-- Not doing enough work with each hone to erase the scratch pattern of the previous hone. Use a jeweler's loupe. Look at what you are doing. It may only take 5 laps to freshen an edge, but it might take 50 to remove a scratch pattern. The work will decrease as you progress through the grits because the scratch patterns you're trying to erase are getting finer & finer.

I concur with these remarks, as I've run into these problems myself.

I had a "moment of clarity" a little bit back looking at edges through a microscope. After interpreting the edges of some honemeisters' works, I realized that I wasn't doing enough canvas/linen and leather stropping after restoring a razor's edge with honing. Now, I'm getting much better and smoother shave for the first and subsequent shaves.

A member sent me three of the most beautiful razors a few weeks ago and I honed them for him. They were a Mastro Levi, a Bill Ellis, and a Josh Earl. The razors were pretty sharp out of the gate but had a few other problems. The bevels were not even, one had a burr on part of the edge, and another had too narrow a bevel. Once I set the bevels and got rid of the other problems, I finished them on a progression of Shaptons, 16k and 30k. They were unbelievably sharp at the end and the other issues had been resolved. The owner said they had been honed by other people but didn't mention who had worked on them. What I learned was that although all the razors were prime examples of the art, in the end it's the edge which shaves your face and if the edge has issues other than just not being sharp enough, no amount of honing will help until the bevel is right and any other issues are resolved.