Thread: Smiling spine/blade

Originally Posted by 0livia

Oh yes, it takes some time to practise.
The strokes towards me turn out nice,
but the strokes away from me are still something different.

Olivia's comment about the honing stroke "away" versus "toward" your body being more difficult is my problem as well. The feedback is usually different on the away stroke, and I feel that I do not apply the same even pressure to the blade, try as I might. Eventually, as I approach the maximum level of sharpness and evenness of bevel, the feedback starts to feel and sound the same. I can't help thinking that if I could just improve that particular stroke, my honing would go much faster. So far, I have not found a method that insures equal pressure on both honing strokes. Any suggestions?

Different strokes for different folks. I hone left to right, right to left. I intuitively began that way. I wouldn't feel comfortable honing toward and away from the body. I am not saying my way is better. Just what I am comfortable with. I also need a stable surface to hone on and would never feel comfortable holding the hone in my hand though I know that many prefer that method. Last but not least I hone standing up. I find that my stroke is more uniform with my arm hanging relaxed from the shoulder.

I like smiling blades to shave with. Lynn recommends a heel leading stroke with the blade at a 45 degree angle for serious smilers and then their is also the "rolling x". Here in the barber manual in the SRP Wiki help files is some info on honing to maintain a smiling blade and avoid a frown. I used to prefer narrow hones for smiling blades but found that as Lynn says I can use a 3" hone just as well.

Thanks Jimmy! I sit to hone, so my arm is always bent at a 90 degree angle at the elbow while honing. Just lazy, I guess! I will try it standing up and see if I get consistent feedback with each of the two honing strokes.
Getting back to the main subject, I use a rolling X pattern with smiling blades. I have a lot of grinning wedges!