Thread: I’ve A Beginners Honing Question

Yup, look at it with magnification, then do what it needs.

Reading here and on other razor fora, one would think, all razors need a complete bevel set progression, but that is not the case.

All the razors in my progression, have been bevel set and fully honed, but most will never see another full bevel set again, as long as I own them.

There is no need. The goal of setting the bevel, is to flatten the bevels, at the proper angle and get them to meet at a straight, chip free edge. Once that is done, it is not needed again, if the razor is properly maintained.

The problem is, many folks wait too long, strop improperly or on a contaminated strop, or fail to maintain an edge on paste or touch up on a finish stone. Then the edge begins to chip. The best way to remove all the deep scratches and chipping is to bevel set and do a full honing progression.

Years ago, a few of us stropped the same razor daily on Chrome Oxide and shaved with it for a year, to see what the effects would be. After a week or two, all the visible stria was removed from the bevel and the shaves continued to improve until they plateaued to a keen, smooth consistent shave. After a year it got boring, nothing changed and there was no damage to the bevel or edge, only microns of steel were removed.

You don’t need to strop on paste daily, though I do, but if you did at least once a week, you can get an edge to last months or years. It all depends on your technique.

The trick to honing a razor is doing what the razor needs.