Thread: Is honing really rocket science?

I don't consider honing to be rocket science, but a learned art that requires practice.
My grandfather taught me how to hone starting around age 7 with how to refresh a pocket knife. Later it was how to set/change the bevel on a knife. Then it was how to hone out a chipped edge. He taught me the techniques for doing the same with chisels, plane irons, carving knives, axes, and eventually how to do a razor.
As a teenager I used to think he would give me that stuff to do just to keep me busy and out of his way. Somewhere over the years I finally realized he was very lovingly trying to teach me an important skill. Although, I could have possibly done with a few less of "great job, now bread knife it and do it again."

I'd suggest getting a beater from whipped dog. It will be shave ready when it arrives so refresh it. Once you are sure you can refresh then reset the bevel. Keep practicing until you know the feel and sound of the steel on the stone.

not sure what makes something rocket science but for me honing takes a little bit of rocket science and a little bit of voodoo or mojo. doesn't help that i don't have a mentor but some blades hone with no problem and some i still can't get. it is a good feeling to be able to shave with a self honed blade though. just keep trying.(it's important to have a good stash of blades too, it increases your chance of success JMHO

I find honing to be just like shaving with a straight. The learning curve is similar and there are similarities on how you either get a good edge or a close comfortable shave. The biggest thing is spending time doing it. When I first started honing razors I had to forget everything thing I knew from honing knives and carpentry fodder. A smooth edge and a sharp edge are not one in the same, and like building a house or making a good lather you must have a solid foundation on which to create it. There is much wisdom to be gleaned from Lynn and Glen's YT videos and much more on this site, but the one thing that cannot be truly conveyed with out having direct experience is the touch it requires to obtain a smooth sharp shave ready edge. I must have honed 5-8 razors a week for 6 months trying different things and techniques in order to get an edge I was consistently happy with. I don't have a mentor locally and only had a razor from Lynn to use as a benchmark, I believe a local mentor would have accelerated my learning curve exponentially, but alas all I had was obsession for sharp things to help me. I think my perseverance and insatiable want for a perfect edge helped push me, and even now as good as I feel my honing is I know that I can do better. I still practice new things on my hand tools as well and I've been sharpening those with great success for 15+ years.

Our classified section is often stocked with hones that bewildered their owners, especially when they applied the "Rocket Science" rule.
The Gold Dollars, well,, they just get tossed when they can't shave.

Don't forget, there's a reason why most men chose the DE over a SR. I suspect honing was one such consideration.

Nope, just experience, lot's of it ; and some basic knowledge about your hones and advanced feedback markers
That's what it all boils down to for me
I use the same tools as they did many decades/centuries ago, so there's no change there; and people now and back then are doing the exact same thing
what has changed? Our technological approach and understanding has increased immensely, whilst the practical experience and knowledge from the ol' fellas has decreased greatly -> but it both leads to the same results, a shave ready razor, our approach is different. People back in the day were practically smarter than I'd assume, plenty of knowledge has been gone forever, alas. They knew their tools quite well, maybe not using a grit determination, but their feel, just as good. potato potatoe

It's just trial and error until you get it right, and after a while you get an understanding and create a routine that will replicate positive results; once you have it, you got it and it becomes fairly "easy"
as long as you don't it only SEEMS like rocket science, very irritating to say the least

Originally Posted by jeffrx

Back in the old days, I assume guys had to sharpen their own razors. Was this the case?

No. The barber would hone them for a fee, or if you wanted a hone he could sell you one. There were also travelling tinkers that honed razors, scissors, etc.

My dad's family used straight razors into my lifetime, my great great uncle had a pair of dubl ducks that were thrown away when he died(grrr). He also had two strops, one clean and the other had a black paste on the leather. He also had a green painted board - green paint used to contain chrome oxide.

Originally Posted by OCDshaver

Don't forget, there's a reason why most men chose the DE over a SR. I suspect honing was one such consideration.

There was also was an air quality problem that would kill you if you weren't perfectly clean shaven.

Originally Posted by mparker762

He also had a green painted board-green paint used to contain chrome oxide.

Some of it still does. Kremer pigments. I have a green painted board that I use at times

So, I got some Naniwa stones from SRD and bought a couple of Gold Dollars to practice on. I had to "hone the shit out of them" to get a good edge. However, after one not-so-great attempt, on the second try I got a really nice edge and the Gold Dollar gave me a better shave than my sight unseen razor. There is also a small sense of accomplishment in shaving with a razor that you worked on yourself. Watching various videos and seeing that there is really no one proper way to hone really helped.