Thread: Honing action "circular"

I know this is old thread, I wanted to open up a new one on this topic, but then I found this one.

Today feeling adventurous, I tried a circular polishing stroke on Coticule (my only stone) with water only. Small fast elliptical strokes, instead of the regular X I read about and being doing till today. I never got my razors this sharp. Passing HHT before stropping, great after a few strop laps.

Wonder why its not as popular as the X pass that you read about when you start using SR.

I used to use circles all the way through the honing progression but the more i honed that changed.

In my experience circles work well on the low grit stones (1k & 4k) but not so well on the higher grits (8k plus). Once I leave the 4k I stick to X strokes only.

I guess the X stroke is popular because it's consistent and works well, but the way I see it is if you try something and like the results then keep doing it. It's all part of the fun really ..!

Hi Stu, some Circular strokes and even short back and forth strokes for me on lower grits work great to move metal quick. When you get to the 4k level and beyond is where the "art" of honing begins IMHO.

The stone is the tool and the edge is the actual art. Different stokes give a different edge that feels different on the face. Hard to explain to folks who don't hone but it has to be very obvious for those of us who enjoy it so much.

Update: This morning I shaved with my recently honed Filarmonica 4/8.This was my first razor, never managed to get a decent shave out of it. Today, for the first time in 2 years, with a thick "tabaq" lather, I had one of the best shaves ever. For me at least for now, circular honing will become my standard from starting slurry up until polishing on the coticule.

Had to share my excitement.

Two additional areas to watch for. One, anytime you do more honing on a single grit and two, anytime you alter anything about your strategy of razor flipping will have dramatic effects on your perceived sharpness. It may not simply be the "circles" alone.