Thread: How can you tell if you are over honing?

I use a Norton 4000/8000. I followed Lynn's recommendation of using the circle method on the 4, then the X. I then went to the 8K side and did about 20 X's. It cut the hair on my arm OK.

Then did 6 X's on a flat pasted (diamond .25) leather block. followed by 15 passes on the linen with 30 passes on the strop.

Shave was harsh and pulled. Did I over hone or was it caused by the diamond paste?

If I go back to hone again, am I in danger of a wire edge?

Granted, some of the answers here are funny...

I do have a very hard stone that is supposed to be 12K or above... If I use it after the 8K should I skip any touching of the diamond pad?

Originally Posted by kimo

I use a Norton 4000/8000. I followed Lynn's recommendation of using the circle method on the 4, then the X. I then went to the 8K side and did about 20 X's. It cut the hair on my arm OK.

Then did 6 X's on a flat pasted (diamond .25) leather block. followed by 15 passes on the linen with 30 passes on the strop.

Shave was harsh and pulled. Did I over hone or was it caused by the diamond paste?

If I go back to hone again, am I in danger of a wire edge?

Granted, some of the answers here are funny...

I do have a very hard stone that is supposed to be 12K or above... If I use it after the 8K should I skip any touching of the diamond pad?

I would ...
Maybe a few passes on cro/Ox
Then fabric.
Then leather, JMHO

Originally Posted by kimo

I use a Norton 4000/8000. I followed Lynn's recommendation of using the circle method on the 4, then the X. I then went to the 8K side and did about 20 X's. It cut the hair on my arm OK.

Then did 6 X's on a flat pasted (diamond .25) leather block. followed by 15 passes on the linen with 30 passes on the strop.

Shave was harsh and pulled. Did I over hone or was it caused by the diamond paste?

If I go back to hone again, am I in danger of a wire edge?

Granted, some of the answers here are funny...

I do have a very hard stone that is supposed to be 12K or above... If I use it after the 8K should I skip any touching of the diamond pad?

You should be able to get a very comfortable shave off of the 8K. I would work on the 8K as a finisher until you can get a comfortable shave and then progress further. I never use diamond pastes so i will not comment on that, but learning to shave off of the 8K is basically learning the fundamentals on the lower hones first. Essentially the bevel set is the base or foundation of a sharp edge. If it is not correctly done, all else fails. If you can get together with another member or get to a meet it will do amazing things for your abilities.

What does the edge look like, when looking straight down on the edge?

What did the edge look like before you started honing?

What kind of stone is your “12K”?

Pics would be helpful.

No, you are in no danger of overhoning, I would bet, the bevel is not fully set, yet…

I would also say it needs more work on the bevel. Do you have a 1k?

When I first started honing I had a Norton "4K/8K". I'm convinced that the 4K side was closer to 1k, leaving me to make a huge jump detween grits. This left me spending way too much time on the 8k. The edges would look okay under magnification but after a couple uses it would develop tiny chips at the apex and feel hash. I attribute this to too much time on the 8K, and I mean a long time on 8K. Eventually I got some Naniwas and was blown away when I had a decent progression to hone on. The difference was like night and day. I never looked back or touched a Norton again. It seems like people worry way too much about over honing when they are staring out and I think it often leads to under honing.

In the classical terminology it might require a low grit and some pressure to create the over honed crumbly edge. In very disciplined terms you are over honing the moment you make a single unnecessary stroke on a grit lower than required. Once a 4K does its job, move up. To avoid too much honing, I usually take the simple approach. I move up in grit and retest the edge. It should improve. If it does not, the original stone did not finish the task assigned to it. I simply go back down.

The key to this though is learning how to tell when the edge is progressing. That takes a little practice.

Maybe some can relate, being a knife guy and having huge hands and diamond stones I can put an edge on a knife in no time, that does Not transfer to honing a straight razor well at all, the biggest problem I have dealt with is the weight of the razor only on butterfly kisses light X strokes on the stone.
1K bevel setting, that is where the micro chipping starts with pressure, which is always my tendency, even stropping I have to really watch out for too much pressure.

Having patience and keeping the pressure Off the razor is key for new honers IMHO.

When you reach the spine................STOP!!!

Originally Posted by samda

When you reach the spine................STOP!!!

Uhh Yep, that would be over honing,