First attempt at honing

[Xyphoid]

I have a budget SR by a small company called Ersen, based in Solingen. I bought it mainly to have a second razor but I wasn't happy with the shave I got off it: tug and patchy. I tried stropping and changing technique but after a while I figured I'd take a close look at the edge, and noticed that it was uneven/not straight, and the bevel looked inconsistant. So I finally got my courage together and decided to have a crack at honing it. I know I could have sent it away to someone else, but I thought this gave me as good a chance as any to teach myself something.

I started by by bread knifing on 220 grit sandpaper, which levelled off the blade and completely dulled it. Then moved on to 1k King water stone, and tried Lynn's circle method for setting a bevel. I went through 3-4 cycles of 2x40 circles plus 25 roundtrip x-strokes before I got it back to shaving arm hair.

Then I moved up to a 6k (it was a combi stone I was using) and spent a while on x-strokes with a circle finishing each stroke - I'm not sure how many round trips I made, I waited until it felt like it was sharper. Then I finished with 10x round trips on an 8k, then green pasted webbing, clean hemp and leather stropping.

Then I tried shaving with it.

Well, I won't be putting anyone out of business anytime soon, but for a first attempt I was quite pleased. It shaved, which was a relief, and overall the shave quality had improved. I needed fewer passes and less pressure, but it isn't as slippery smooth as my professionally honed Dovo or Aust. There is noticeably less tugging and irritation, though, so I am calling this an improvement.

I I also took the chance to resurrect my old chef knife, which was in a sorry state but which now is shaving sharp. Very pleasing, I must say.

I wouldnt have have dared try this if it weren't for the can-do attitude embodied by the members of this forum: thanks to you all.

PS - Big it thanks to all those who have put up videos of honing on YT, as I watched more or less all of them!

[RezDog]

I have no idea what possessed you to bread knife this blade, but I am glad you were able to recover it. Bread knifing is kind of an extreme technique typically reserved for the removal of large chips. It takes away a lot of steel and shortens the life of the blade by a lot. I am glad you were able to get it back up and running. When honing the use of pressure is the tricky part. The most important part of honing is the bevel set. If you use a loupe you can get repeatable results. If you had a great light and super sharp eyes you might be able to get by without one. It is nice when we get our first shave-able edge. Congratulations on your success.

[Xyphoid]

Thanks, RezDog, for the congrats and the friendly warning about bread knifing. The blade edge just wasn't plane, and I didn't see an alternative for solving that. I used more the butter spreading technique that some SRP member demoed on YT, rather than sawing on a stone. I wouldn't do it again in a hurry, though. Out of interest, would you have viewed such lack of straightness as a problem? Do you think simple setting and honing would have been adequate? (I know, impossible really to say without seeing the blade etc, but still curious...)

[RezDog]

Well I have no idea how bad the edge was and how it was not straight. It could have been a wavy bevel or even a nice little smile. I think part of honing is assessing the blade in hand. If it had a strong frown then honing the frown out with the spine elevated may be and option, then a heavy tape build up slowly dropping off the tape until the blade was flat MAY be an option. Small imperfection will come out with good honing techniques. Don't get me wrong I am not the all knowing by any stretch, I too am still on the steep side of the learning curve. It takes a lot of razors to get it seriously dialed in.

[Xyphoid]

The tip with decreasing tape is useful, thanks. The edge was more wavy than frowny or smiley. I'll have to remember that one.

[petercp4e]

Congratulations on the first shave with a razor that you honed yourself! Nothing like it.

Pete <:-}

[Euclid440]

As said you do not need to breadknife every time, when you hone you are automatically creating a new edge. 220 is way too aggressive for all but serious repair work.

Repair work is not your normal honing.

As you said, pressure might be your issue, as might be your “Green Paste”. Unless it is pure Chrome Oxide, you may be causing more harm, than good.

Get yourself some inexpensive magnification, good, lighted, 60X can be had under 5 dollars. Look at your edge straight down, if you see shiny reflections, the bevel was not completely set or you have chipped the edge from too much pressure or aggressive paste, either which will give you a harsh shave.

Before you begin any honing look at the edge to see what is needed, then do just that, otherwise you are just honing blind and needlessly removing steel that may or may not resolve the problem or causing new ones.