Thread: I Drew an Inch and gained more than a mile

Originally Posted by sharptonn

Indeed. Out in the real world, some crazy razors are to be honed!

Or, may be not.... What good is a good wind without a good windchime...

Originally Posted by gugi

Or, may be not.... What good is a good wind without a good windchime...

Indeed. Those which are unworthy seem to be swinging in the breeze!

I think most of this thread is based on different ideas that are very similar in many ways.

In my quest to learn how to hone I am trying to visualize what the previous honers technique was.

If I started out with a new blade with perfect geometry and used my preferred hone the blade would take on my characteristics.

A short while ago I was at a get together and had 3 knowledgeable people give me input on technique. All were good thoughts and one of them {Thanks Ron!} Used the idea of a line in his description. We did not draw it but I visualized it.

As with everything I do I will try to listen to everyone and use 1% of each to develop my own way.

Tim

Originally Posted by gugi

That depends on what one's goal is.

When I simply want my razor honed I send it to Lynn - there is nothing better than this.

If I am stumped at why a razor won't get sharp and have no idea what to do I may look for any 'simple recipe' I can just follow and hopefully get it done.

If I am interested in becoming as good as Lynn and not be just a technician who follows a recipe, but can deal with any razor that comes my way, then what I want is to understand the process and the reasons for the various techniques. The hope is that when I get a challenging razor I will be able to devise a combination of different techniques or make a new one that addresses the unique set of problems of that particular razor.

Again, it all depends on one's objectives

Well a while back I was talking with Lynn (Abrams) on the phone about an article I was going to have printed in my local newspaper and I asked him about honing for others and he encouraged me to 'Hang out my Shingle' so as to help expand the interest in straight razor usage.

And now all throughout my thread you have discouraged a 'technique' that was of use to me in honing. Yet after all of your 'class book learning posts' you now say to just send a razor to Lynn instead of trying learn how to try to rise to the challenge of being as good as Lynn is.

In my humble opinion/that is a disgrace!

As far as I'm concerned the entire spirit of SRP is the sharing of knowledge and experience to help others better themselves with EVERYTHING from Pre-shave prep to honing.

Originally Posted by cudarunner

And now all throughout my thread you have discouraged a 'technique' that was of use to me in honing. Yet after all of your 'class book learning posts' you now say to just send a razor to Lynn instead of trying learn how to try to rise to the challenge of being as good as Lynn is.

I would respectfully suggest that you go back and reread my posts, because you are grossly misrepresenting what I said.

Yes, this site is about sharing knowledge and experience, so dismissing mine as 'class book learning' is not only as insulting as it is false, but also in complete discord with your own words.
The fact that I haven't hung a shingle does not necessarily mean I am clueless about honing - it means that nowadays I value more other ways of spending my time than honing razors.

If you are mentally focusing on and concentrating your physical effort on one area of a hone then you are creating with each stroke a purposefully designed and shaped hone surface that will resemble a convex surface. Is this a designated convex hone? Do you have to re-lap the hone before the next warped razor so that you start again with a flat surface with square corner/edges for it to be effective, or does the hone become less effective the more you use it? Or does the effective working surface become broader and more user friendly and efficient?

I think that a couple of videos would be useful it the stones had penciled grid patterns within the one inch area along the topside middle and near the edge of the stone to prove one way or the other.

Alex

Silly Me
I meant to say.
a purposefully designed and shaped hone surface that will resemble a concave surface. Is this a designated concave hone?

Originally Posted by alx

If you are mentally focusing on and concentrating your physical effort on one area of a hone then you are creating with each stroke a purposefully designed and shaped hone surface that will resemble a convex surface. Is this a designated convex hone? Do you have to re-lap the hone before the next warped razor so that you start again with a flat surface with square corner/edges for it to be effective, or does the hone become less effective the more you use it? Or does the effective working surface become broader and more user friendly and efficient?

I think that a couple of videos would be useful it the stones had penciled grid patterns within the one inch area along the topside middle and near the edge of the stone to prove one way or the other.

Alex

Agreed and great suggestion!

Originally Posted by alx

If you are mentally focusing on and concentrating your physical effort on one area of a hone then you are creating with each stroke a purposefully designed and shaped hone surface that will resemble a convex surface. Is this a designated convex hone? Do you have to re-lap the hone before the next warped razor so that you start again with a flat surface with square corner/edges for it to be effective, or does the hone become less effective the more you use it? Or does the effective working surface become broader and more user friendly and efficient?

I think that a couple of videos would be useful it the stones had penciled grid patterns within the one inch area along the topside middle and near the edge of the stone to prove one way or the other.

Alex

That may be true for one hone & one razor but I always lap my hones as I don't just hone one single warped razor on them. IME a worn hone becomes less effective but I don't think that is the point of this thread.

I may be wrong but I think Ivan is saying the concavity of the razor will meet the hone's edge & be abraded in spite of other area contact on the hone from non warped sections.

Originally Posted by onimaru55

I may be wrong but I think Ivan is saying the concavity of the razor will meet the hone's edge & be abraded in spite of other area contact on the hone from non warped sections.

More or less.
The only part of the hone that is capable of honing a concave section of a razor edge is the edge of the hone.

The non warped sections almost always can be honed anywhere on the hone's surface, but in practice a fluid honing stroke means that they will also be honed in the area 'near the edge' of the hone if not on the edge.

One nice thing is that anybody who is interested in checking it or convincing themselves empirically if they don't understand my geometry argument can do so very easily.