Thread: honing info for a newbie...

Originally Posted by gglockner

The hone I finished your shave-ready razor was a Honemaster from Tilly. I have been told that it is a finer grit than the 8K Norton. As for the Swaty's they were very popular, but be aware that there are some variance in the grits of different brands. I have found that one side may be better than the other.

All of this is true, even among Swaty brand hones. THere are 2-line and 3-line hones, with the 3-line being finer. Also, the branded side of the hone tends to be a little finer.

Originally Posted by cyrano138

shows what i know. i thought 'swaty' was the brand.

It is, but the brand has been manufactured in different countries over the years, with some variation in grit.

Originally Posted by superfly

Swaty IS the brand name. It was invented by Franz Swaty, from Maribor, ex Yugoslavia, in the beginning of the last century. There are different Swaty hones, "two" and "three lines" ones, and I think that describes the grit difference...

If you check them out you'll see that later ones were made in Austria and even the US. There is some variation among them besides the number of lines.

apparently mine's made in jugoslavia. are there bad swaty's? like pakistani razors?

Originally Posted by cyrano138

apparently mine's made in jugoslavia. are there bad swaty's? like pakistani razors?

If it's a Swaty and it's in good condition, it's not bad. Those hones are very useable- quite fine and fast for that fine a hone.

Originally Posted by cyrano138

eh.

i don't see any reason not to try and learn to use the norton, even if i don't need to use it regularly. has anyone on this board ever gotten a really close shave with a norton-only honed razor?

The guys on here are all giving good advice. I can only speak for what works for me. Personally I think Lynn's tip about watching for the shiny edge is on the money. My Father in Law (F.I.L.) got a dovo from classic shaving and I honed it on the norton 4000/8000. I didn't have to worry about nicks on the edge of the blade so I went 3 complete pyramids to be safe (5/5, 3/3, 1/3, 1/3). I checked the shine on the honed portion of the cutting edge and didn't like it so I took 8 more swipes on each side of the blade on the 8000 side of the norton and it was nice and "purdy". All kinds of shine. It shaved like a dream after that.

I've been blessed to have Lynn in close driving distance. He gave me a really good honing and stropping lesson and I've been doing my best to follow his advice ever since and so far it's been working wonderfully.

Lynn is finishing up video on honing/stropping that will be available in some form soon. Don't despair. It took me a few months to hit the mark where when I honed it gave me a good enough shave that I was happy with it. Some people learn fast. I learned slow.

Glen F

Oh, I've also experimented with straight push versus the x pattern, i.e."slicing" the blade that most seem to equate with the "pyramid". both worked for me. I've also led the heel, i.e. the blade being a 45 degree angle with the heel coming down first. After Lynn posted about that I was able to get a couple buggered blades shaving nicely.

I thought the "slicing" motion was the x pattern and the pyramid was simply the switching grits (4000, 8000) back and forth, the 5/5, 3/3, 1/3, 1/3. Have I misunderstood that all this time?

Glen F

Originally Posted by FUD

My Father in Law (F.I.L.) got a dovo from classic shaving and I honed it on the norton 4000/8000. I didn't have to worry about nicks on the edge of the blade so I went 3 complete pyramids to be safe (5/5, 3/3, 1/3, 1/3). I checked the shine on the honed portion of the cutting edge and didn't like it so I took 8 more swipes on each side of the blade on the 8000 side of the norton and it was nice and "purdy". All kinds of shine. It shaved like a dream after that.

It sounds like an awful lot of honing for a new razor. They don't come shave ready, but they don't come totally dull either. I can't think of any time I've had to do more than a little work on a fine hone to ready a new razor.

Originally Posted by FUD

I thought the "slicing" motion was the x pattern and the pyramid was simply the switching grits (4000, 8000) back and forth, the 5/5, 3/3, 1/3, 1/3. Have I misunderstood that all this time?

This is right.

Unless you have a very short stone, they x-pattrn will not give you 45 degree lines, but more like 20 (with an 8 inch stone). So, you don't want to heel lead with a 45 degree angle, but tilt the blade back from the perpendicular about 20 degrees.

I've heard talk about the slicing motion of the x-pattern, but I wonder if it really matters or is just an issue of personal choice. A molecule siiting at the edge sees the grits coming at it at a 20 degree angle regardless of how you achieve it. Under a microscope the scratch patterns look identical. I've honed with heel leading and the x-pattern. If I use the same pressure I don't see the edge forming at a different rate. So, if the rate of material removal is the same and the result is the same, what would be the physical difference?

A bunch of new razors that have been sent to me all required more than that! His experience sounds pretty reasonable to me, not excessive at all.

Just my two cents,

Originally Posted by Joe Lerch

It sounds like an awful lot of honing for a new razor. They don't come shave ready, but they don't come totally dull either. I can't think of any time I've had to do more than a little work on a fine hone to ready a new razor.