Thread: beginners luck?

so my norton 4000/8000 arrived yesterday and today i thought i would attempt to hone that wapi thats been in the cupboard since june
so i drew the grid in pencil on both sides of the norton and soaked it for 30 mins,then lapped it on a sheet of glass 10"x6" with 600 grit wet&dry
as advised by puff,then soaked it for an hour.
then taking my time did the pryamid that steelforge posted
15/15
10/10
5/5
1/5
1/3
1/3
then chased the dog around the garden so i could try the HHT
but couldnt catch him, so done the thumb test,didnt feel quite right
so i did 10 more on the 8000,then 50 laps on linen and 100 laps on leather then into the bathroom, hot soak,prosaro pre shave & lather,then shaved the wapi went straight through my whiskers no nicks or sore face!
so just for tonight i,m a hone god but in the cold light of day i know that either the wapi is a damn good razor to learn with
or i got lucky,but hey it still feels good

Congrats! It doesn't sound much like luck to me. You were well prepared and approached it with rigor. Nice work and enjoy that feeling!

A Wapi was the very first I was able to hone by myself too. I got it around the same time as a Dovo Bismarck which we have an ongoing struggle with.

Great Job! I don't know if I remember ever reading someone having a great experience with a Norton the first time they use it. It does sound like you were well prepared and that does make a big difference. Also, those Wapienica razors are probably the easiest razor to hone that I have ever encountered, so that probably helped too. Keep up the good work and keep us posted on your progress

Excellent.. sounds great.. I have a wapi in the wardrobe to use as my test honing blade for some point in the future.....

Great news Tony!
Your research and patient approach paid off imo. Don't sit back on your laurels though, there is plenty to learn and enjoy yet.

Good luck geezah!

PuFF