Thread: New member, first shaves

Thanks guys!

Also, Gugi and Stubear, I didn't stop at 2000 and shave like that! I honed it like Red described. I realize now that to someone reading, it seems like the sandpaper was the final step.

First, bevel setting on Carborundum stone, somewhat similar to diamond.

Then, I honed on the Arkansas to smooth out the edge.

After that I stuck the 2000 wet/dry to the Arkansas stone and honed a bit more. Still not nearly sharp enough at this stage.

Then, the final step. I pulled off the sandpaper, and put a clean sheet of clean copy paper on the stone. (Newspaper works better.) Then, I applied the Simichrome polish to the paper and used a stropping motion. -So, I used the newspaper on the stone to provide what is like a pasted wood strop, but less harsh on the edge. The stone was used as a flat surface, the newspaper a strop, and the Simichrome was the honing compound. I was left with a mirror polished edge, that did not seem to pull, and would pass the HHT well.

So, my honing technique was like the coarse stone-med stone-fine stone-pasted strop-unpasted strop route, just with different abrasives. I am going to find some more good hones in the future, but for now this works for me, so I am taking my time to find good ones I like.

And thanks for the advise on honing out the chip, Stu. Although this is my first straight, honing those nicks out won't be a big thing at all for me. I have done lots of honing and reprofiling on other tools, just not straights. I'll have to get a loupe soon, I've been wanting one for a while.

I also won a real strop on eBay today! Leather tool sharpening strop and stropping block - eBay (item 170513109739 end time Jul-16-10 10:12:03 PDT)

Regards,
Chaz