Thread: FIRST HONING........surprising results!

Alright here's the story....

So I got my Norton set (220/1k, 4/8k, and lapping stone) last week and had a chance to start honing this weekend. I already have a nice Torrey that was professionally sharpened by SRD so I had a pretty good example of what "sharp" really is.

I'm sure that different razors yield different results with different technique etc........... So I honed three razors this weekend all older razors but in decent shape that just needed some TLC ( all solingen but nothing special ).

After soaking and lapping my 1k and 4k I got right to it. Two of the blades I used the pyramid method described by Lynn on SRP. The other I just worked my way up to the 8k without stepping back to the lower grit stones.

All three turned out better than I expected although I had to re-hone one razor. With the blade open I dropped one of the razors on a tile floor and bosched the freshly honed blade (tile and carbon steel do not play well together). Luckily it wasn't damaged too bad and I started from the beginning with alot of extra strokes on the 1k to get the small chips out of the edge.

It was actually quite satisfying feeling the different hones and how they reacted to the blade as I honed. After each usage of the stone you could see the difference on the edge when put on the light. Probably just a combination of watching a gazzillion videos on honing and reading alot of posts before actually starting. It seems alot of guys hone in many different ways and it's basically just finding the method that best works for you while sticking with the basic fundamentals as a guide.

After I honed with the 8k, I put .5 chromium oxide on my canvas strop and made a few passes. Then I stropped up and shaved with SUCCESS! Again, not as sharp as my SRD honed blade but I was able to comfortably shave with all three blades no problem. I couldn't get my newly honed blades to pass the hanging hair test but I know this method of testing sharpness of a blade is somewhat questionable.

Thanks for all the advice from everyone. I can't wait to hone again..........now I just have to acquire MORE RAZORS and maybe a microscope to get the BIG PICTURE! Also, for all of you wondering if you could hone yourself like I was before this weekend........read up, do a little research, and buy some quality products and you will surprise yourself! Thanks again SRP members....you guys ROCK!

Welcome to the club

Congrats! Its a great feeling

The norton stones make it very easy to tune in an edge when trying to learn how to hone razors. Usually if you're close on the 4K and then go to the 8K and THEN feel that you could use a little bit more, a pyramid is all you need to get the rest of the edge in. That's saying that the bevel is set and you're just going into a sharpening step.

Usually when I feel that I am there after the 8K I will then go back down to the 4K briefly just for a 5/5 ,3/3,1/3,1/5 pryamid and then finish with ten laps on the 8K very lightly. Then the edge is just that little bit better that I was looking for and I go into a finish.

It's a good feeling when you first see how fun honing is...

Now you have the problem of never having enough razors to hone up lol!

And well done!

It's very satisfying to use your own edges. Even more so when the skill/quality really comes into play. At only 65 blades, I'm no expert, but I do love the learning and the work. I doubt I bring much natural talent to the task, so that usually means lots of regular practice - which is fun, and produces mostly good results. When they're not good - the blade provides more practice & learning.