Thread: Honing jig

I've been away for awhile but used to visit the yahoo site often. Can't remember reading about honing jigs. It seems to me to optimise the levelness(sp) of the razor through the stroke, and the heel to toe side-to-side motion shown in some of the videos, that it would be beneficial to use a jig. Something that hold the blade level throughout, while graduating the heel to toe motion. Anyone ever heard of anything like that?. I personally don't hone yet, but from the diagrams and videos the levelness throughout would be one of my initial challenges. I've always been the nervous energy guy bobbing his knee up and down, and don't have the steady surgeon hands of some, but would really like to learn to hone. Something like a jig might help.

Honing jigs for knives and woodworking blades are needed to keep the correct and consistent angle of the blade to the hone. In razors the spine serves that purpose, so jigs are not really needed because each razor comes with a built-in honing jig.

At the same time, very few razors can be sharpened by keeping them at the same angle throughout the stroke. Especially ones with a smile. These require slight shifting of the pressure from heel to toe during the stroke so a jig would make honing them impossible. These blades do not lie competely flat on the hone.

Alan (aka AFDavis11) posted an excellent thread (My Honing ) on honing with a folded towel under the hone to absorb extra pressure and in my opinion that would constitute as much of a jig as razor honing would need.

Originally Posted by vladsch

...Alan (aka AFDvis11) posted an excellent thread (My Honing ) on honing with a folded towel under the hone to absorb extra pressure and in my opinion that would constitute as much of a jig as razor honing would need.

Nice piece, I'll have to find his one on stropping.
Thanks for the info.