Thread: Best grit progression?

A lot of honing is doing what the edge needs. You don’t need to go to a 1k if the razor is in your stable and needs a touch up. I often just go to a Jnat or 8k if needed.

For razors that I don’t own, or have not honed prior, I usually go to a 1k to start fresh with a full bevel set. I sometimes start with a 2k Naniwia Green Brick, that will leave a much straighter edge and finer stria pattern.

I believe a cause of many new honer’s issues is the deep 1k stria and weak edge, that never gets removed. A 2k is almost as fast, (if the edge is not damaged and the bevels are relatively flat) and leaves much shallower stria pattern.

The weak edge from the 1k must be removed, by honing on the following grits or jointing to get to strong, solid steel. Time spent removing 1k stria will greatly improve the edge.

On established razors, bevels can be set on 3 and 4k, but can be challenging for new honers to ensure that bevels are fully set. Once the bevel is set and deep stria removed the rest is polishing. An edge after 8k becomes very straight and smooth. This is where most natural stone peak and technique becomes paramount.

So, the trick is to find a middle stone that easily removes deep 1k stria or use just enough stone to re-set a bevel, and polish from there. If you find that a honed edge breaks down quickly, (micro-chips) it can be from heavy handed stropping, from weak steel from the bevel set or both, try bevel setting on a higher grit stone and see if your edges improve, Experiment.

No 4k, that was an error I made. I have a 4k/8k NORTON, not sure why I confused that with Naniwa, haven't used it in a long time haha.

Had someone teach me honing this past weekend and I'm on my way to honing my own blades now. I definitely need more practice as well as incorporating my own technique into it, but I have a much better understanding of the fundamentals. I also picked up a King 1k and it's amazing!

I'm currently stopping myself from getting into natural stones, that's a whole other rabbit hole that I'm too amateur to be delving into at the moment

I do have a question though. I used a jeweler's magnifying loupe when we were honing to observe the bevel and I forgot to ask him which magnification it was set at. If I was to get one of my own, anyone know which magnification is sufficient to view a blade bevel?

The consensus seems to be that the Belomo 10x triplet loupe provides the best bang for the buck. It provides a wider than average field of view and clarity across the field of view without distortion.

Thank you sir!

Don't forget that your progression does not always start with a bevel set. When I do a maintenance honing, often I go back to my 8k, sometimes the 5k, and sometimes the 3k. So the 3k and the 5k are a bit more useful than just being a bridge between the 1k and 8k.

Originally Posted by DZEC

The consensus seems to be that the Belomo 10x triplet loupe provides the best bang for the buck. It provides a wider than average field of view and clarity across the field of view without distortion.

The last loupe I bought was the Bausch Lomb Watchmaker Loupe 10x. It's handy having both hands free & I reckon even 4x would be enough with quality optics.
Remember you're mostly looking for anomalies in the edge, not how pretty or ugly the scratches are

You can buy loupes off Amazon and eBay made in China for very low money. But keep in mind that if you do, and say you buy a 40x, its not really 40x. Plus the view is going to be tiny and distorted around the edges of the view. They do work, but for a few bucks more you can get a much better loupe.

So after my honing lesson, last night I honed my first blade (a wedge blade for a Henckels Rapide) starting with a 1k, followed by the Norton 4k/8k, then pasted strop, then leather strop.

Shaved this morning and the shave was not that great. Started out okay but it didn't take long for the blade to produce an uneven shave. On some parts of my face, the hair is cut closer to the skin than in others. Eventually tugging/pulling started and finally not much shaving was happening unless I applied significantly more pressure.

Not sure where I went wrong, here are my steps:

-On the 1k and 4k, 40 circles clockwise and counter clockwise, both sides, followed by 40 up/down strokes both sides, followed by 20 down strokes, both sides.
-On the 8k, about 50 downstrokes, both sides
-Pasted strop, 100 strokes
-Leather strop, 100 strokes

I was consistently checking the bevel with my loupe, I lapped each stone, and retaped at each grit. I used light pressure throughout.

*The greatest edge I've ever felt on my face was from a Dovo Renaissance straight razor that came sharpened from the factory. If I can recreate the sharpness of that blade, I will be a happy man. Seems like I have a long way to go

I’m not familiar with that blade, but when I hone my wedge straight razors, I use tape on the spine to help form a good beveled edge. Did you tape the blade while honing?

Did you make sure that you had a good edge coming off the 1K? The number of strokes isn’t a guarantee of that. You have to visually inspect the edge after the honing steps with each stone.

Originally Posted by DZEC

I’m not familiar with that blade, but when I hone my wedge straight razors, I use tape on the spine to help form a good beveled edge. Did you tape the blade while honing?

Did you make sure that you had a good edge coming off the 1K? The number of strokes isn’t a guarantee of that. You have to visually inspect the edge after the honing steps with each stone.

Yes sir, taped and then retaped at each grit.

I visually looked at the bevel at each grit as well and especially noted the differences at the 1k. There were a few areas of serration to the blade when I started and these were more or less gone by the time I was finishing up at the 1k.