Thread: Spent about 4 hours with gssixgun learning how to hone

I have gotten into straight shaving within the last month or two as cartage razors always give me razor burn. I have been told that SR is a good help in reducing/eliminating this issue. Anyway, I bought 3 razors off craigslist pretty inexpensively. See the thread here. The razors were not shave ready and I knew this going into the deal. One was decent, one was trash, and the other was a shavette. I do not have the means to be able to sharpen, nor did I have the knowledge to. I traded off the guard that also came with the razors for some NOS Weck Sextoblades. I have shaven with these a few times, only nicking myself once. I kept reading that shaving with a SR is much different that shaving with the Shavette, so it was time to look for someone to hone and strop my Roxo.

I emailed gssixgin, Glen, to see if I could drive out to his place to have him hone my razor. I also wanted to buy a bench top strop from him. I only live about 85 miles and my little diesel Jetta gets an amazing 50 mpg, so it was going to cost me less than $15 in fuel. Glen and I made arrangements that worked for both of us and I headed out yesterday after work. After inspecting my razor it was determined that a simple hone was not going to fix my razor. We went into his shop and tore the razor apart. While Glen worked on the blade, I set off to clean and polish the scales. He then reset a new pin and tightened it up compared to what it was. While working on my razor he was also working on a complete custom with bone scales. You have to remember that this is what Glen does for a living. By me being there it slowed down what he was currently working on, though he did not mind at all. He enjoys teaching others. After both razors were set in their scales we proceeded to go to work on honing. Glen did all of the honing on my razor, letting me inspect the edge during every step with a magnifying glass. Usually I would inspect it first to see if I could find anything that looked out of place, then Glen would look it over and confirm or deny. Sorry Glen, I do not remember the names of the hones, we went through some many names of hones before I left. Anyway, we started with a 1000, then 5000, then 10000. Then he finished it on a different stone, of which I do not remember either. After all of the honing he showed me how to strop on a hanging strop. The first was on a strop that had chromium oxide if I remember, then went to linen, then finished it off with the leather. I had to ask why some people suggest linen and other do not. He told me that if there are imperfections in the edge the linen will usually pull them out. The leather alone may or may not. After it was stropped we went back and looked the edge over. Indeed we found a micro chip. Glen tried with the 10k to get it out, but had to switch over to the 5k, then run through all of the steps again to finish it. I was really impressed with his attention to detail and his drive for perfection.

After my razor was wrapped up and ready to go home he decided that me watching was not a good enough teaching. He picked out another razor that he had siting at the table that he was going to hone and handed me the hone and told me it was my turn. I ran through all of the steps with his guidance. He watched my technique and looked the edge over and told me what I was doing wrong, and how to correct it. I ran the razor all the way up to the 10k hone. Glen wanted me to work on one of his restorations that he was going to sell. This was just in case I messed something up he would have the time to correct it. He did not want me working on my razor as he would not have the time to correct it if I had messed it up bad. He said that the razor I honed was good enough that he would just have to run it across a finishing stone, and strop it. That made my day.

For anybody who is having trouble honing or wanting to learn I highly suggest you try to find a hone master and sit down with them and let them teach you. Ask them to let you practice on either your razor or an extra one they might have. This is the best way to learn, hands on. If you are not able to sit down one on one then try to make it to a get together. Pay close attention to what is going on. Ask if someone would mind you practicing with their stuff. Even if you only get to hone with one stone, it will give you a good technique. Two stone would be better as you can see how the honing marks change on the edge. Keep in mind that just about everyone will have slightly different honing techniques, but they should all get the same results.

With all of that said, I had a great time last night. I drove nearly two hours to see Glen, we worked together for about four hours, him mostly showing me the correct way of honing and teaching me a lot of history and other interesting stuff, then I drove home for the next two hours. It was a very informative trip and very well worth spending 8 hours out of my day doing.

There is going to be a Spokane get together on September 29th. I am going to try very hard to be there. Usually my weekends are reserved for my family as that is the only time I get to see them. For anyone local to the area I highly suggest that you attend. It will be very informative.

Glenn, Thank you for taking the time to show me what you did last night. I had a blast and learned a lot. In time I will be looking to buy a set of hones from you.

Michael