Thread: Can anyone explain the reason behind the X strokes?

Originally Posted by kelbro

None that I've been able to discern as long as the hone is flat.

Still do it out of habit since I learned to hone on a 1 7/8" hone.

The two questions that need to be answered are:

1. "How straight is straight for the razor edge?"
2. "How flat is flat for the surface of the stone?"

We are trying to generate a razor edge that is uniform at the submicron level. A DMT Diaflat lapping plate is certified to be flat to +/-0.0005". While that seems impressive, 0.0005" (1/2 mil) is 12.5 microns. We are unlikely to get our stones much flatter than that.

Thus, to create a uniform edge on a razor that is not quite straight using a stone that is not quite flat, we need to use a combination of circles, straight strokes, and x-strokes. Another thing that I do is to rotate the stone 180 degrees mid-way through the honing on each stone to help compensate for variations in the flatness of the stone side to side.

The flatness of the stone, does not matter that much, because we are not honing on the exact same point with each stroke, that it is smooth, is more important.

A flatter stone is a bit more efficient, as more grit is in contact with the razor, but nothing that an extra stroke or two would not compensate for.

The age-old question, how did the old guys get their stones flat, before dial indicators and diamond plates? And how flat is a grinding wheel or a spinning sanding belt?

Originally Posted by Euclid440

The flatness of the stone, does not matter that much, because we are not honing on the exact same point with each stroke, that it is smooth, is more important.

A flatter stone is a bit more efficient, as more grit is in contact with the razor, but nothing that an extra stroke or two would not compensate for.

The age-old question, how did the old guys get their stones flat, before dial indicators and diamond plates? And how flat is a grinding wheel or a spinning sanding belt?

+1 My dads hones were dished and it never bothered him.

As for the old guys- Emery powder on concrete and then green paint (CrOx) on wood for a balsa strop :-)

I had also heard / read that ideally you wanted the striations to be uniform on the bevel at more or less a diagonal pattern, i.e., 45 degrees, lined up from toe to heel along the edge of the bevel and meeting at the apex from both sides.

///////\\\\\\\ diagonal striations as opposed to ||| ||| straight striations...doubt it matters, whatever floats your boat, but the X stroke ensures you're getting the uniform creation of the bevel and produces these consistent type of striations.

Mind you, I'm basically at the place where honing gymnastics, i.e., do what it takes to pass the shave test...or do what works to try and get as uniform a bevel as you can will do me just fine.

That, and a tantrum or three I find helps immensely in setting the bevel, yelling at the razor encourages the bevel to set as well....think I saw that in one of Glen's videos....

Yelling at bevels. That's more for advanced honing techniques section of SRP.

Sometimes you just have to give the razor a little bit of verbal encouragement and moral support. Let the rusty little know that if it doesn't get it's together and shave right, there's gonna be a reckoning.

Gotta love the Esoteric discussions on SRP sometimes


One thread discussing the Flatness of the hones and the X stroke being needed and the one next to it discussing using Rounded and Convex hones


http://straightrazorpalace.com/hones...ed-stones.html



Maybe I should just Merge the two and watch the fun

Hone and blade flatness aside. I do the x because it's what I taught my self over countless hours of reading and countless hours of practice.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Gotta love the Esoteric discussions on SRP sometimes


One thread discussing the Flatness of the hones and the X stroke being needed and the one next to it discussing using Rounded and Convex hones


http://straightrazorpalace.com/hones...ed-stones.html



Maybe I should just Merge the two and watch the fun

Evil genius...I like it!