Thread: Just cant get razor sharp following Lynns video at all

ok i see. Can i wear out my razor quick this way setting new bevels and practicing? also still im wondering why lynn uses circles method

Originally Posted by Jamesalot23

ok i see. Can i wear out my razor quick this way setting new bevels and practicing? also still im wondering why lynn uses circles method

Yes you can wear it out, tape the spine. The circles speed up the process

If you can't get the bevel set that means you are not torquing the blade enough and are honing above the edge.
When you do not torque but apply pressure you are honing the spine more than needed. Try and produce a slight twist towards the edge and see how that changes your results.

Originally Posted by mainaman

If you can't get the bevel set that means you are not torquing the blade enough and are honing above the edge.
When you do not torque but apply pressure you are honing the spine more than needed. Try and produce a slight twist towards the edge and see how that changes your results.

Thanks, i was not aware of that, will try, and report back tomorow

Send it out as others have advised.
If you have been performing circles and pressure then I would say your bevel now had high spots and uneven ware.
Probably a better idea to stick to X' s or straight strokes watching the water and how the edge pushes it along.
I made many a bevel wonky using pressure and circles in the beginning of my journey to Lord King Honemeister

The most important hones in your sequence are the 1K bevel setter and the 12K (or higher) finisher. Stones in the middle just help get rid of the scratches/stria from the 1K.

When you use the 1K stone it is an absolute must that you take whatever time is necessary to achieve an apex where the bevels on both side of the razor converge. You cannot set a specific time, nor can you count strokes; it takes as long as it takes. On a vintage razor, you may have to remove some "rotten" steel before it will take an edge. Although I do not like doing so, I have gone all the way back to a 400 grit stone to remove metal on some vintage razors.

When you finish with the 1K hone, you should be able to shave arm hair at skin level. Although some folks say you never should do it, I usually test to see if the 1K edge will slice through 15# tablet paper with no snags from one end of the blade to the other. If the bevel is not set, it won't pass both tests. You need to go back to the 1K and continue until it will. The paper will do minor damage to the edge, so go back and add a few strokes on the 1K after the edge passes that test.

Ideally, when using a synthetic stone progression, each step upward to finer grits should no more than double the previous grit. Thus, a sequence of 1K, 2K, 4K, 8K, 12-16K would be ideal. Unfortunately, Naniwa offers a 5K stone rather than 4K. The reason for this is that by going from 1K to 5K, the 5K stone will have difficulty removing all of the 1K scratches and replacing them with 5K scratches. Thus, when you budget will allow, try adding a 2K or 3K stone to the sequence. I use both of them in my sequence.

A lot of folks say you should be able to shave off an 8K Naniwa or Norton stone. I have a tough beard and sensitive skin, so I want a blade that is both sharp and smooth; the 8K won't achieve that for me.


You have to be careful not to over-hone on the Naniwa 12K as it can cause some razors to develop microchips. When you are jumping from a 5K to a 12K, it will take a lot of work for the 12K to remove all of the 5K scratches. Thus, you might want to consider adding an 8K stone at some point. It is probably more important than a 2K or 3K.

Agree with the feedback your getting here on your questions. The one thing I will add is that trying to hone a straight razor 5 times (even following the video to a "T") is a VERY short amount of time to get the honing technique down correctly.
I am not exaggerating when I say that I probably honed 50 times before I even understood what I was doing that was improving the edge vs what I was doing that was degrading it. And I would say that's almost the norm (other members feel free to chime in on that, maybe i'm just really slow lol) I literally went out and bought junk razors off the bay to hone on so as to not wear own my "good ones" at the advice of my mentor.
And then after I found myself in a position where I was grasping the concept of a technique, there was no proverbial "ah Hah" moment for me. It continued to be observing, improving, and repeating. I am at a place now where I know what I need to do in order to get what I consider an acceptable edge from each of my blades, and it still takes an extraordinary amount of concentration, observation, and especially patience on my part.

Doesn't sound like you are getting the bevel set correctly.

As suggested, I think by BobH on the previous page, sharpie the edge, then inspect under strong light to ensure the ink is removed evenly tip to heel and all the way to the very edge. If it isn't, you don't have the bevel set, yet.

You might wanna look for feedback markers from the stone / razor.

You might wanna try a couple of edge probing assessments after each hone, you gotta know and get the feel of what an edge should look / feel like after every hone.

If you've worn out the spine you might not even be honing into the very edge of the razor anymore, and it can take a long time to get there, you might wanna add a layer of tape to aid in that.

Very good points have already been made, maybe try posting a picture of the razor?

The Naniwas are very fast stones IME so generally speaking beyond the bevel setting it really shouldn't take long at all to polish and finish that bevel. If the bevel is indeed not meeting correctly, you can do and try anything you want, it just will not shave.
I actually did/do find the Naniwa 1K a little tricky to figure out for some reason, ergo why I like to set my bevels using a very fast Coticule, they're a somewhat easier to judge for me and shave arm hair well so I know the bevel is set.

Good luck!

Originally Posted by Butzy

And then after I found myself in a position where I was grasping the concept of a technique, there was no proverbial "ah Hah" moment for me. It continued to be observing, improving, and repeating. I am at a place now where I know what I need to do in order to get what I consider an acceptable edge from each of my blades, and it still takes an extraordinary amount of concentration, observation, and especially patience on my part.

I'm probably at close to 600 razors honed, like you said no definitive "ah hah" moment but there were tons of mini "ah hah" moments that all get stored for future reference. And I'm still learning. It's a never ending process, at about 50 full bevel sets I was pretty confident I could handle most edges