Honing action "circular"

Troggie was VERY kind to let me borrow 3 of his stones for trying out on my new OLD razors. He sent a 1000, 4000, and 8000 stone. They look a lot like my HS4 Arkansas hard oil stone in that they are thicker on the top than the bottom, and, of course, take soaking in oil. But, dimensionally, they are small stones, wedge shaped. You've probably seen them.

Now my question is this. I was honing with holding the stone in my left hand and the razor in my right giving it circular motions on the water and stone to about 10 counts and then flipping it over and doing another 10 counts of circular motion with my right hand as I also moved the stone slightly with my left and it created a nice circular action of the blade against the stone. I did about 50 counts with each stone, 1000 first going to 8000 last.

Has anyone ever honed in this "circular" fashion? I got done with the WISS, stopped it and shaved with it. Pretty much a complete shave, even on top lip, but probably not as sharp as it should be. I stropped with a 1 1/2" leather Latigo (horse tack) that I have for about 50 strokes (full up/down).

My problem is until the Dovo comes from Lynn and Don, I really don't know what a truly comfortably sharp razor is for a comparison.

yea, it's very common. Try adding some x patterns now.

Thanks AFDavis11 !! One thing I did not mention is that when I use the 4000 stone (white) I see grayish residue on the stone which I rinse off and go a bit more. That is indication that the stone is actually taking metal off the blade.

Looks like it not only removes metal from the blad edge, but also the back or spine as well since they are held flat against the stones. After while, you won't have a very great bevel shape to the cutting edge, but more flattened. In other words, as the razor is honed, it would proved a shallower and shallower bevel on the edge.

I hone on all my jnats with a circular stroke followed by light X pattern strokes, works every time. I've even adapted this stroke to Coticules and larger hones also after finding out about Lynn's "circle to sharp" methods.

You can prevent any spine damage by using a piece of electrical tape to protect it if you like. Those are called slipstones and not the greatest stones in the world but they work.

You can use circular motions but I found with those ones a modified X stroke seemed to work a little better and I wasn't worried about cutting my hand when doing it.:D

Was there ever a video of someone using a slip stone to do circular motion honing?

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Originally Posted by Gibbs

Was there ever a video of someone using a slip stone to do circular motion honing?

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Not that I know of.. I am sure it would work just as fine but I would probably take a block of wood and create a small cavity to put the stone in so I wouldn't have to hang onto it. Maybe even make it where the stone face is flat while honing with it.

The other thing you can do instead of circular is just a back and forth motion on each side. If you want the Maestro Livi honing video on Youtube you will get the idea. Probably would work a little better than the circular motion on those stones as well.

yeah i like to mix it up a little with circular patterns and x strokes it helps remove steel faster going against the scratch pattern

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Originally Posted by Gibbs

Looks like it not only removes metal from the blad edge, but also the back or spine as well since they are held flat against the stones. After while, you won't have a very great bevel shape to the cutting edge, but more flattened. In other words, as the razor is honed, it would proved a shallower and shallower bevel on the edge.

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Man, I love seeing a new member jump in and start exploring!:D

I want to address they above. You're correct, the spine gets honed away as well as the bevel. I think we generally call this "hone wear". You can tell a lot about a blade by looking at the hone wear. Don't worry about the angle of the bevel changing. As the spine gets thinner the blade gets shorter and it all *basically* evens out.

You can tape the spine for cosmetic reasons, or to intentionally raise the angle...it's just another little piece in our bag-o-tricks.

eleblu05 hit on something I'm a huge believer in. As you experiment with different technique I think you'll find that different scratch patterns and type/amount of pressure are two variables that will always keep this hobby interesting.
:beer1:

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Originally Posted by Disburden

...about Lynn's "circle to sharp" methods.

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Do you have a link to this? I should have my daughter do a short video of what I do and post it. I'm 57 and have done this since I was in high school and leaned it from my Uncle Evan as they prepared knives for branding day....part of the castration of bull calves into steers.

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 :D 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.