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I want to hone a new Gold Dollar razor. I know I Know, but I want to practice honing. How many passes should I start with on the 4000/8000
Norton with a new un-honed razor? Is there a rule of thumb. I want to do a pyramid. I was planning to staart with 10 strokes.
You may need to set a bevel on it first. Pay attention to the area of the heel as I have heard they aren't always as they should be on GDs from the factory. Here is a video that it would pay off for you to watch. I would suggest re-reading the pyramid tutorial in the SRP Wiki honing section and start with 15 or even 20. If it ain't there when you're done repeat. For an inexperienced honer it doesn't hurt to use one piece of electrical tape on the spine. I like 3M. :gl:
Good advice thank you
On closer review not only was the heel "not finished" the blade had a pronounced smile. I used a DMT stone and with a sawing motion I leveled the blade. I was working on another razor so i will set the bevel when I get a chance. It is a inexpensive razor so it will make a good teaching project.
Don't do what you want to do. Continue evaluating the razor and do what it needs. The razors needs are more important than what you want to do. Edge and geometry requirements are important to carefully evaluate.
+1. Seeing as how you are new at honing it would be better to ask questions before you attempt changing the geometry of a blade. Here is a PDF of a 1961 barber's manual on honing and stropping. The honing portion will show you something about a smiling blade and how to maintain one. What you don't want is a frown and it addresses that too.Quote:
Originally Posted by AFDavis11
Several of us have found it very easy to overhone Gold Dollars. They tend to feel OK until about 5K, then lose their sharpness due to overhoning. My cure on the 4 or 5 I have honed was to hone the blade on each hone till the blade was almost sharp.
While honing, I left a little more work than normal for the "next hone." I didn't worry too much about whether the blade was perfectly 1K sharp, for example; just close. No arm hair test. Then, on to my 3K. Etc, etc. I didn't try to achieve the "perfect sharpness" until the final 12K hone.
This gets me every time I read about someone doing this... Why would you remove a smile? A smile is generally considered a feature, not a flaw, though I can understand a YYMV thing.Quote:
Originally Posted by ShoreBird
Shorebird
A sharpie. You have to be able to see your progress and to know what needs to be accomplished. A Sharpie is your road map, without it you are diving, honing blind.
I use red or blue, it can be seen clearly with the naked eye, but at least a 10X loupe is invaluable. Like AF Davis said do what need to be done, It is sharp when it is sharp not after x amount of laps on x hone.
Enjoy
Marty
Quote:
Originally Posted by M Martinez
Got you thanks
Quote:
Originally Posted by wdwrx
Doesn't a smiling blade require the use of a Rolling X stroke? I've tried doing this and it's a lot more difficult than the other strokes.
If you don't want to bother with an advanced stroke, wouldn't removing the smile so that you can do regular X Strokes be the ideal solution?
This probably isn't what the pro's do, since they can most likely do a rolling X stroke with no problem; But if you just want to do X Strokes, it would seem that BK'ing the blade is the simplest and most straight forward solution.
I'm new at honing as well, but I'm just trying to play Devil's Advocate and find a case for his actions.
I absolutely would not recommend breadknifing to remove a smile. Its totally unnecessary and all you're doing is making the razor duller. Its far easier and quicker to learn how to do the rolling X than to breadknife down to a totally square edge and try to reset the bevel from there.
I cant really think of a situation where breadknifing is a good thing to do. You can hone chips out with X strokes and circles, no problem and anything thats so big you cant hone it out that way may well be severe enough to finish the razor off totally.
As a rule of thumb, avoid breadknifing!
I can accept this as a reason to remove a smile. And, if a blade has only a very small smile, and was originally configured to have an absolutely flat, straight edge, I will sometimes breadknife to remove the smile. But, only if a very slight smile.Quote:
Originally Posted by tmac123
By and large, I live with the blade as it exists. Even those blades where tip end has been honed into an exaggerated smile, I hone it as is.
Of course, every frown must be wiped off the razor's face!
I was just pondering and trying to think outside of the box... especially since breadknifing is so dramatic.
If you had a razor with a slight smile; could you just continue to hone on a 1k stone until the bevel formed naturally on the toe and heel of the blade?
Smile and the world smiles with you. An old saying I just made up. :) Here is the 1961 barber manual excerpt on honing and stropping from the SRP Wiki help files. Read it and when you're done you will smile when you find a razor with a smiling blade. The rolling x is a lot easier to learn than restoring a bevel on a breadknifed razor. IME anyway.Quote:
Originally Posted by tmac123
Hi there. I happen to have a gold dollar razor and have honed it down sharp enough to have a good shave and have passed the HHT.
Here is a picture of my razor:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4137/...ca8025b1_b.jpg
Here are the tips:
-8k is not fine enough for a razor. I would suggest getting a 10k+ stone for refinement.
1, Use 4K side of the stone, put the razor flat in the stone and with the edge pointing out, push the blade evenly out. DON'T change the side of the blade. Keep honing this way until you get a micro-serration, other people called this Micro-serration, burs.
2, Change the side of the blade. Do the same thing as step 1.
3, change the side of the stone to 8K. Do the same thing as steps 1-2.
4, use very little pressure with 8k stone, do the same thing as step 3.
Now, you should get a shave-ready edge on your razor, but to get a better shave, a 10k+ stone is needed to refine the edge.
This may be how you hone a working knife but it will rapidly wear a razor.Quote:
Originally Posted by jinnaraka
Some of us have razors that are 200 years old & they didn't get that old being honed as you describe.