Thread: 8K Norton is not enough.

What I've found practising on my two Gold Dollars over and over again was 75-80% of the time and work was on the bevel, I knew that intellectually from reading it here, but until I was doing it, the temptation (which I also read about here) to skip up the sequence was strong. I didn't move on from the 8k until I could shave my sideburn area...if it didn't shave well, took a break.

I did a pretty good job on the I.Barber razor, but when I finally got to the 12k and the Escher, it was a huge let down, ten minutes maybe combined on both stones...then I remembered a video Glen had of the Shapton 30k, a $500.00 or something stone...he did 3 laps on the stone, shrugged, and said, well, that's it, we're done here!!!

My honing practice now is going to be taking some of the other practice razors I have and just putting bevels on them and taking them to the 8k stage.

Ok. So I will regroup and focus on the 4K for now since I do not own a 1K. I will be using a machinists loupe to visually inspect the new bevel that I will be setting. When I have achieved an even, clean bevel I will use the arm hair method of checking sharpness and then proceed to a test shave from there. After I have set an appropriate bevel with the 4K I will repeat with the 8K.

would you all agree that this is a sound method?

Originally Posted by Phrank

My honing practice now is going to be taking some of the other practice razors I have and just putting bevels on them and taking them to the 8k stage.

Hear! Hear! That's the way to. Pretty soon you are going to come to where I've been, declaring myself a genius and then dousing my head with cold water to regain reality. An 8k is the benchmark. All frills and whistles after that, which is to say that it, in time, smoother edges can be gotten as long as the bevel is good. My new motto is, "In 12k I trust" because it smooths the 8k to comfort level.

Originally Posted by Straightandproud

Ok. So I will regroup and focus on the 4K for now since I do not own a 1K. I will be using a machinists loupe to visually inspect the new bevel that I will be setting. When I have achieved an even, clean bevel I will use the arm hair method of checking sharpness and then proceed to a test shave from there. After I have set an appropriate bevel with the 4K I will repeat with the 8K.

would you all agree that this is a sound method?

Yes. I recently jokingly (it bombed) made a post about a 1k/1k pyramid. The point of it was that once you think you have a fully set bevel, go ahead and do a little more on it. It is constantly said but you are wasting your time on higher grits unless the bevel is right, so try to get the best bevel that you can. Honing after the bevel is done is easy but you have to learn how to KNOW that the bevel is done.

Yes, you should be able to shave off of the 4k using all regions of the blade. If you cannot, then you are wasting your time on the 8k.

Good luck with it.

Heck, forget luck. Practice, pay attention, and keep experimenting.

This thread is really helpful to me because I have so far struggled refreshing with a 12k, so since I have a 3 k and 8 k Naniwa, I bit the bullet and ordered a 1k that's in the mail.

Don't give up on the 8K, it took me about a year to get used to it and I managed to get a shaveable edge on the first go from breadknife to 1K - 4K – 8K (on four separate razors). For me the moment I got it was when I felt the capillary action on the blade. My 1st test of a good edge was to shave the philtrum (test shave not withstanding) without pulling, rash etc, the test now is to shave against the grain without irritation or digging in. I have moved onto the welsh slate from AJ as a finisher which was affordable however some like them some don’t. Concentrate on the 8K finish at the moment and pushing the edge as far as you can, try some tricks like using dishwashing detergent or lather. Above all, if you can make it to the meet, do it.

Originally Posted by Utopian

If you cannot get a comfortable shave off of the 8k, no higher grit hone is going to fix it. It will only thin your wallet.

This, a thousand times over.
You can get excellent shaves off the 8K. If you can't, it means something went wrong before that.

I was given some advice from Glen to master one stone honing. I bought a chosera 1k and learned to set a bevel I spent 80-90% of my time on the 1k. Then created a heavy slurry on a phig and with practice I got my edge to cut arm hairs at the arm level,then bought some chro-ox and my strop sequence and shaved smoothly...now I have a norton 4-8k and my edges are sticky sharp after 8k and stropeing. Doing is believing good luck.
Take care.

Last night I started my new approach at this. I was told by a non SRP member that since the razor in question was just needing a touchup, I could just do so on the 8K. I believe this was MY mistake. The original bevel is different than my new one. After about 10 careful passes on the 4k I inspected the edge and immediately noticed a mismatch between my new bevel and the existing bevel. It seems that I was indeed chasing my own tail. so I set into slowly re-setting the bevel. After about an hour I had a very even new bevel. I can easily shave arm hair with it and it is much sharper than after my last attempt. Tonight I will continue with the 4K for a bit and then attempt a test shave.

For the first time I can actually feel a hydraulic suction between the razor and stone which tells me I am on the right path.

I believe that the error in my original conceptualization was that finer= sharper. when, in fact, finer =smoother.

There is no such thing as THE perfect edge. That concept is a moving target and the target keeps moving further away. What many would have considered to be the perfect edge 10 years ago many would turn their nose up at today. If you want the best available perfect your technique first and then be prepared to spend like a drunken sailor.

To me it's a matter of getting an edge you're happy with.