Hi Everyone and major (for me) accomplishment

Hi. I switched to straight razor shaving about a month ago and have really enjoyed the learning experience, except for a maybe a couple shaves, so far. The videos on youtube and forums such as this one are just a tremendous help in cutting down the learning curve.

Last night my razor got away from me and ended up with a big nick in the blade from dropping it into the faucet. Well, I've been trying to teach myself to hone and this seemed a pretty good exam.

The 1000 wouldn't touch it so I had to go to a 220 I keep around for restoring kitchen knives. About an hour of circles and x strokes got me to a fairly even bevel with no chip. From there it was just follow Lynn's standard procedure of 1k circles, 4k circles, 8k, 13k and felt and leather and bam coming off the leather it passed hanging hair test first try. This is the first time I've been able to get a razor sharp enough to do this. The 13k stone and felt were the new additions this time (they just arrived) and it's good to know that my technique, while still needing work (my bevels could be more even), is getting to the point where it's good enough to shave with.

I can hardly wait until tomorrow morning to try it out!

Cheers everyone
Mark Levin
Encinitas

Good job? What's the felt for? Taking the burr off?

great story and welcome to SRP from another newbie! I hope the shave tomorrow confirms the successful hone. I've yet to delve into that myself, but I know what you mean - sometimes if your technique or prep are off it can be rough, but when everything falls into place - wow, what an experience.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by okbow68

Good job? What's the felt for? Taking the burr off?

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You use it with paste so I think it's basically just a paste strop. I couldn't tell you what the advantages/disadvantages are with respect to canvas. I saw it mentioned in one of Lynn Abrams's videos. For $8 you can get a 12"x6" strip that can be cut in half to give you 4 surfaces to use as you like. I think Lynn mounts his on a paddle. I just put mine on top of a dry stone and it seems to work just fine.

okbow68,
Felt is a good substrate for the harsh/harder compounds/pastes like diamond and CBN. Hard wool felt helps these harsh pastes cut but also leave a smooth edge. The high grit pastes are mostly about chasing the ultimate sharpness, but somewhat for smoothness.

Romsek,
Congratulations on the successful repair honing. Welcome to SRP.

Jonathan

Wow ! An hour of circles on 220 ? Must have been a bad chip. Congrats on your results tho. :tu

Keep us updated on how it worked out

It was certainly shave worthy but not as spectacular as I had hoped. My stropping technique has improved quite a bit since then and this is making the big difference in how comfortable my shaves are.

I wasn't trying to go very fast on the 220 as I was wary of using that coarse a stone. My skill level called for slow and careful work.

congrats on your accomplishments! they are major ones indeed :)
i cannot stress enough on how Lynn's instructions in his videos, when followed correctly can even get first-time honers to get a nice edge on the razor. his methods are very versatile and consistent and the circling process does wonders! anyways, good to hear of your success and hope you find more of it on your journey of straightrazor shaving!