Thread: honing advice

Hi all
I have just received my first honing set. I got the naniwa 10k and 8k and a balsa strop with Chromium oxide. my next round will be the 3k and 1k. I got advice from Phill ad classic edge and I have watched all of lynn's videos multiple times and am working my way through gssixgun's vids.
for the most part everyone says the same thing. Am I right in my understanding that one of the main things with honing is finding out what works for you?... its best to take the basic theory ( strop with the spine leading not the blade etc.) and work it. a bit of back ground. I have physical limitations with my fine motor skills so I don't always hold the razor normally and can't shave left handed with a straight. I haven't found much of a problem testing out my hones on an old razor just to get the feel of things, but my circles are a little funny looking.
I have noticed that honing theory can cause passionate debates, so I'm more looking to see if I'm on the right track and are there any tricks or warning signs that I'm doing something wrong.

thanks

If you have watched Lynn's and Glen's videos you will be just fine. They give alot of the basic techniques and why. Make honing your own, and take the lessons learned from anyone that has helped you in the past and incorperate it into your honing skill. I would say do what works for you when honing, but more importantly do what works for that particular razor.

The luxury of instructive videos is one thing I wish I had access to when I first attempted honing. The key is to really listen to what they say. Someone could be videotaped and appear to be doing the exact same thing but be totally ruining their razor. This is because the amount of pressure you use, how flat your blade is on the hone, how flat the hone is, etc... are somewhat hard to notice when viewing the video.

Watching videos is good to give you an idea but honing is something you learn by doing not watching. You see all the time on this site guys who buy a bunch of hones and never learn to properly use them and think if they buy more they will find the secret. All they have is a rock collection. The important thing is take one hone and use it until you can extract the max from it before touching another one.

There are basic moves in honing depending on the issues with a particular razor and depending on what you are trying to do whether it's a simple touch-up or restore. It's more what the razor needs than what works for you. Once you learn the basics then you can get creative which is a requirement when you work on more challenging razors.

The three wisemen above me hit it on the head and gave you sound advice.

Me personally, I have a Norton 220/1k stone, a Norton 4k/8k Stone, and two barber's hones (unknown grit, but in the 6-12k range). Each time I start honing a blade up, there is a basic starting point of so many circles, so many x-strokes, etc., etc. that I use, but it's exactly that- a starting point. Sometimes, I'll do less, sometimes more. It's really specific to the combination of the razor and the hone, and both will tell you when they're ready for the next step, if you listen close enough.

The only thing I'll add is that watching Lynn and Glen's videos is great for learning the basic theory, and even learning advanced technique theory, but the only way to truly learn it is to do it.

I'm no honemeister, but I can tell you to learn all the theory you can, try to meet up with a mentor in your area for some one-on-one lessons (or a group meet for even more knowledge), and take your time while you learn. If you start getting frustrated (and trust me, you will) learn to walk away and come back later. To quote Glen "Slow is smooth, smooth is fast."

Good luck!!

Honing recently shave ready blades is relatively easy IMO. If you start buying on Ebay, you never know what you will get. I bought lots on there and not worth it IMO. Unless you have lots of free time that is! Sounds like you are on the right path, the hone selection is good and the videos pretty much cover it all.

Find a honing mentor, use tape, enjoy. That's my recommendation...

Thanks, some great advice. I totally see what you mean by the videos are a great help but picking up a razor and actually trying it is totally different. my first attempt didn't feel anything like I expected it to. but after a few attempts last night I managed to bring a razor back to a good shave. not truly shave ready in but a comfortable shave. step one of many taken.