Thread: First Honing Experience

It's been a while since I've been able to sign onto the forum, but here's a story for you.

I've been slowly saving up for some decent honing equipment and I finally got outfitted with what I was comfortable with to take the honing dive. I received and ordered a 6x2 coticule and belgian blue, 4x7/8 1200 grit dmt, and a Wapi from Mike. The goal was to sharpen my 6 month razor which I had originally honed when bought to the same status as the brand new Wapi. Well, I practiced getting the techinque (using the marker test) of honing using a Zeepk razor to make sure my hand was steady. I found that I had good technique (even wear of the line) so I moved onto my daily use razor. I ran 15 X laps on the blue and 15 X laps on the yellow. Stropped for another 30 and found results but still not up to what I wanted. I did another 10-20 using the same system (blue then coticule) and 30 on the strop and found that it shaved off a two week beard with no pulling and a very close shave on a first WTG pass. I was pleased to say the least.

I then moved onto setting the bevel on the Dovo (EEK!) that Sharp&Shiny graciously gave to me. It needed a decent amount of work and on the small DMT it was a test, but I think I did a good job. After a total of 270 laps on the DMT and tests throughout the whole proces (blue, coticule, strop, HHT for sharpness) I did a small test shave on just part of my neck comparing the wapi to the Dovo and I was, again, pleased.

I wanted to thank Paul for the gift of the Dovo. I really appreciate it. I can't wait to get around to getting a full shave with the Dovo. Was 270 too many laps on the DMT? It being my first honing/bevel setting experience and only being a six month straight user I'm hopefully not being too naive in thinking it was the right amount.

FWIW 15 passes on the blue and yellow are probably not going to be enough to remove the scratch pattern from the previous grit unless your stones are really different from mine. Belgians do not cut anywhere near as fast as a Norton. I would bump up the number of passes to at least 50 on both the blue and yellow and see if you get better results.

Originally Posted by claytor

blah blah blah.

Congrats, claytor! I'm sure that must feel VERY rewarding!

If you don't mind me asking, how much did that equipment set you back?

The two stones (lapped) and a wooden holding box (to hold one stone) cost me just under $140 from Howard at theperfectedge.com . I ordered the DMT from japanwoodworker.com for $10. I'm second guessing not getting a slurry stone, but I'll have to deal with what I have for the time being.

David, I'll give a few more passes on the stones to see if it makes a difference. I was just being conservative on the passes for obvious reasons. Thanks for the opinion.

Originally Posted by claytor

Was 270 too many laps on the DMT? It being my first honing/bevel setting experience and only being a six month straight user I'm hopefully not being too naive in thinking it was the right amount.

If it are 270 full laps (1 back and 1 forth stroke), then that's a lot, but not impossible if the tip of the bevel on that Dovo was thoroughly rounded. Apart from removing a bit more steel than absolutely needed, there's no real disadvantage in doing a few strokes on the DMT to many, as long as you don't overdo it on the pressure (a hazard for causing microchips)

I agree with heavydutysg135 that 15 laps on the Belgian Blue is a bit on the lean side. On another note, I get the best results when I use a thin slurry on the Blue and only water on the Coticule.

Cheers for your success,

Bart.