Thread: First time honing

Originally Posted by RAZOREDGE

I will try that tonight after work. One question. Are both sides of the bevel going to be the same size or is it going to look diferent on the front side than the back side? I looked under the microscope here at work and one side appears to be a little wider. Is that normal or do I have to give the smaller side more work? Thanks for all the help.

It depends on the razor. In a perfect world the bevel would be the same width on both sides the entire length of the blade. But because of slight imperfections that normally doesn't happen...especially if the blade is warped.

It's not that important to have even bevels as long as both sides meet at a sharp point.

If you are using a microscope you should be able to see what's going on and in your case (new unhoned razor) it might be a little easier if you coated the bevel with a magic marker...that way you could see if the metal you're honing off is going all the way to the edge or not. Using a scope is an art of it's own so be sure to vary the angle of the light source (I use a pen light) until you have an optimum image.

I did use the black sharpi and honed it until there was no more of it left. when i viewed it under the microscope i didn't see any trace of it. you think i should keep honing like it is?

Originally Posted by RAZOREDGE

I did use the black sharpi and honed it until there was no more of it left. when i viewed it under the microscope i didn't see any trace of it. you think i should keep honing like it is?

An 8k stone is normally use to "refine" an already sharp edge so if your edge isn't sharp yet you will have to do a LOT of honing with that stone to get it sharper.

I can't really tell you what to do or not to do so I'll make the following recommendation.

If it seems like it's getting sharper then by all means press on...but if it's not then I think you are wasting your time (unless you just want to practice) and would suggest getting a coarser stone.

Originally Posted by RAZOREDGE

I did use the black sharpi and honed it until there was no more of it left. when i viewed it under the microscope i didn't see any trace of it. you think i should keep honing like it is?

The magic marker test (MMT for short) is not without it's faults. It's possible for the marker to be removed by the slurry even though the edge is not making full contact with the stone.

More important is when using the microscope to inspect the bevel to make sure the scratch marks made by the stone go all the way to the edge.

Well, after placing one layer of tape on the spine and honing on my Norton 8K for about an hour I was able to shave last night! Tonight I will give it a little more and see how sharp I can get it. I need to invest in a 4K for sure. Thanks to all! I think after all that honing my tech. is also improved quite a bit.

I'm a newb as well, but here's what i"m doing...

First, get a second razor. Three or four would be even better. I'm up to seven now, but that's just me.

Send one of your razors off to a real honemeister. I just sent one off to Glen (GSSIXGUN). This way, not only will I have a really comfortable razor to shave with, but also a benchmark for sharpness.

I've honed four razors now, which is just enough to let me discover that I had/have *no idea* what real sharpness is. Everytime I think "yeah, that's freaking sharp, no way it could get sharper than this!", I end up reaching a new level of sharpness, and the cycle continues. And it seems like I have yet to get that "really freaking sharp" level all the way down the blade; it's only in spots. I have one razor that's really driving me nuts, cause it's the sharpest I have yet to achieve, but it's only sharp in two places on the blade. It's really hard to shave with a razor when you can only use two particular spots on the blade. (I'm going to start over again on this blade when my DMT's get here tomorrow)

So the long and the short of it: you'll need multiple blades so you can practice, you'll need a professionally honed one as your benchmark, and you'll need the appropriate hones to get ya there.

I'm even buying the really trashy ebay blades... ones that could never be restored or used for shaving, just so I can practice honing on them.

Last advice: go to the shave wiki and read Glen's article on honing. Then re-read it. Then print it out, and refer to it when you're honing.

Originally Posted by AusTexShaver

The magic marker test (MMT for short) is not without it's faults. It's possible for the marker to be removed by the slurry even though the edge is not making full contact with the stone.

More important is when using the microscope to inspect the bevel to make sure the scratch marks made by the stone go all the way to the edge.

That's why you wanna do the MMT without slurry.

Originally Posted by Kees

That's why you wanna do the MMT without slurry.

Unless you rinse the stone every 10 laps or so you're gonna have a slurry whether you want one or not. It may not be as thick of one as the traditional type used on a coticule but it's there.

When I'm trying to milk a Norton 8k for every ounce of sharpness it can deliver I use it almost dry (damp rather than wet) and rinse it off every 5 laps.

Well, good news! I pretty much followed all of the advise that everyone gave me and just put everything together the way I thought it should go. I used a slightly worn 1000 grit 3m paper to set the bevel then I went to my 8K with some slurr on it for 15 strokes. I then went back to the 1K for about 10 strokes. By the way I had one layer of scotch tape on the spine while doing all of this. I did about 30 strokes on the 8K again with the slurry and then I can't tell you how many strokes I did after that with the 8K with no slurry and often cleaned the the stone. I went to the strop for a count of 30 on the cloth with white Dovo paste and again to the stone with very little water almost dry and a light touch for 30 more strokes! Man my razor works like a charm! I chaved my face and both my arms! I can't tell you how good it felt to have my blade back and better than it was when I first used it with the factory edge.

Also, the MMt test works very well when you have a microscope and the one I have at work is pretty good. I viewed it on x1 and x3. Crazy how the edge looks. Even when you think it's pretty smooth it looks rough under the scope but every time I honed I viewed it and could see it getting better. I think I'm going to go and get the Chinese 12K this weekend.