Thread: New to honing, where to find best instructions?

Well, it looks like you have gotten the basics. Now you need to learn how to use them. I do not know which GD razors you obtained, but check the blades for warping. Also check to see if the heal of the blade will interfere with your honing stroke. On some GD razors, it is best to modify the heal before honing, but on others it might not be necessary.

Unless you purchased your GD razors shave ready, you will need to set the bevel. That is done on the 1K stone. There are different techniques for doing that (circles, axe strokes, x-strokes). I normally start with circles and finish with x-strokes. There are a lot of good honing videos. Some of the best are from Lynn Abrams and GSSIXGUN. Your higher grit hones won't do much good until you have the bevel set. That means that the two sides of the blade come together at an apex angle all the way from the heal to the toe of the blade. If there are any flat spots where the sides do not quite come together, you are not done yet. There are many ways of determining whether or not the bevel is set (thumb nail test, thumb pad test, three finger test, paper cut test, magnifier test, arm hair test, etc.). The problem is that all of these test are subjective, so you need some experience to figure out what they mean. If your blade won't shave arm hair at skin level, your bevel needs more work. There are also videos that show you how to test the bevel.

The best way to learn to hone is to work with a mentor who can show you how to do it and then monitor your progress as you try it yourself. You might search for forum members in the northern Ohio area that can help.