Thread: Honing Help

The only way to know if your hone is flat is to lap it. Think of it as an insurance move.

Your countertop should be just fine, no need to get facncy at this point! Here is the procedure:

1. Buy some 600 grit wet/dry sandpaper
2. Put some pencil lines on your hone, no need for exactitude on this.
3. Dampen the countertop
4. Competely wet the sandpaper on both sides
5. Place the sandpaper on the countertop
6. Place the hone on the sandpaper and using an X pattern sand the hone with a normal pressure until the pencil lines are gone. Then sand for 10 more strokes.
7. Place the hone under running water and rub the surface of the hone to remove any abrasive particles that may have become embedded from the sandpaper. You can use either your hand, a nylon scrubbing pad or a brush to do this. Just be very thourough on this procedure.
8. Your done!

Hope this helps,

Very helpful. I'll plan on doing that when the norton arrives...probably friday or monday.

Cheers

Guys, you can go to your local home building Big Box store, and get a faux marble tile that's 12" x 12" for about a buck, and that's what Ive been using for a backing plate for the sandpaper I use for truing up my stones.

I've even used it to do the "scary sharp" method on my chisels, and I may not be the greatest afficianado of fine sharpening for the chisels, but they'll shave your arm in a hurry when done with that method. It's all sandpaper based, too.

Good idea...

So I take the tile and wrap the wet sandpaper around it...then i move the stone around on top it (both sides of my norton)...correct...

Actually, with the 12 x 12 tile, you just soak the sandpaper for a few minutes until the backing is pliable, and then lay it on the tile, moving it around a ittle bit to get a good adhesion.

Once It's in contact with the tile, it will pretty much stay where you place it by stiction, and you can move your hone around on it in the figure 8 to lap it.

It doesn't hurt anything to hold the sandpaper against the tile, and against the strain of the lapping strokes, to keep it from sliding or anything like that. You will only run into a problem (usually) if you move the stone toward the hand that's holding the paper in place, and after the stone has gotten flat enough to where you are getting a bit of suction adhesion (stiction) between it and the sandpaper.

So my Norton arrived today. I have some other stuff on the way and won't get to do anything until the weekend. When its all here I'll post my gear and how it goes.

Thanks for all the help,

John

So, I'm still waiting on my strop paddle and strop from Tony, but I have my Norton and my Razors. I have two razors which need to be honed and I've been told my Norton can handle it. My questions are:

How will I know (using the pyramid) when one of the razors is ready to come off the stones?

Using the Norton, do I need to go from it to the paddle strop, or will the Norton put the razor into shaving condition without the paddle? I have mixed impressions on this from reading the board. I believe I've read the Norton alone can do it and that the paddle should be used for blade maintenance every few weeks on the razors to minimize hone usage.

I'm setting aside Sunday to work on honing the two razors I have. If someone is available on Sundays for a skype call in an emergency that would be awesome. Of course I understand that free time is hard to come by and weekends are a time to relax...so I can always wait with questions til a more convenient time.


Cheers,

John

jbasl,

Here is what I have learned. I only have a 6K japanese waterstone, which is inferior to the Norton, so take it for what it is worth.

I can get a good (not great) shave after honing with only the 6K. After hitting my 3, 1, .5, .25 paddle, I get an awesome shave.

Here is my procedure, and so far it works for this newbie. I hone with the 6K until it can barely pass the HHT test. Here is how my HHT test goes... I take the coarse hair (he has 3 grades) off of my dog (pointer lab mix) and when the blade can pop it with some work (requires a couple of tries and some hair dragging on the blade) I do another ~20 laps on the 6K (very slow cutting stone). I then double check the HHT using chest hair (I'm bald, and my wife's hair rarely works in the HHT, but I have a hairy chest). At this point I can get a good, basically tug free shave WITH the grain (against the grain is not a good idea here).

The next step is the paddle. Incidentally, I can get the blade marginally more sharp using the 6K, but it requires a perfect touch, and much time. The paddle is much easier and quicker, and really finishes the edge. Here I follow Tony's directions that came with the paddle, and when I am done, I have a blade that can pop all three grades of my dog's hair, and is comparable to the pack of DE blades I bought for comparison. This gives me an awesome, tug free shave. I think with practice, I can get the blade even better, as I am still new to this art.

Sorry for the long post. Moral of the story: if I can get a decent shave on a 6K japanese waterstone, you can definately get a better shave using nothing but your Norton. The paddle definately improves the edge, and makes it possible to delay honing, but the 8K norton alone will be shaveable.

Damnit! I thought I had everything I needed...and now you are telling me I have to get a dog!!!!!


But seriously, that was a great reply, no apologies neccessary!

I think, unless I hear otherwise, I'll use my Norton to get it to pass the HHT then move over to the paddle for a little bit to get a super sharp edge. The blade I have for comparison (a shave ready Griffon) seems sharper than any DE blade.

Thanks for the pointers.

And, you can call me John

I will be available on Sunday for a Skype chat. It will be either early Sunday morning or late in the evening. Give me a shout when you wake up on Sunday if you wish and we cann start on the honing.
Please lap the hone first just to be sure it is ready.