Thread: How many passes or strokes?

+1 It takes as many as needed to sharpen the edge. If you think that you can go by counting laps you are missing the most important part of honing, getting it sharp. Learn how to know if the edge is sharp and when to move to the next hone. If you don't learn these milestones you will always have problems honing your razors to a good edge. The WIKI is the best place to learn this stages.

+1 with Jimmy. Each blade will have it's own characteristics, and there is no magic formula to say how many strokes to do. Experience with your blade (yeah, will require some experiments) will be the best guide. If there is any advice that I can give you is that start with a smaller number of strokes, then add more if your blade requires more.

+2 on what ever it takes.

I try and this varies by razor to get the edge to pop hairs at all grit levels before I move on.

I use linen and leather. 40 - 50 then 80 - 90. It just depends on how I remember the edge the last time I used it. I have a small rotation so this is not a big thing to remember.

I thought that diamond grit hones were not a good idea for straight razors fccexpert. Am I wrong?

Originally Posted by jbcohen

I thought that diamond grit hones were not a good idea for straight razors fccexpert. Am I wrong?

I don't use a diamond hone, only diamond paste on my pasted strop. I cannot think of any reason why a diamond hone of the proper grit size would not work, however. I use the 4/8k Norton because it is

1) very dependable and consistent
2) relatively inexpensive

I use the diamond DMT 1200 for setting bevels before I move to the Norton. There is no problem with using the DMT diamond plates/stones.