Thread: Honing question

I've been sharpening knives for a couple years but I just started sharpening razors yesterday. I'm really enjoying the challenge, it's a great learning experience. It seems to me that the sharpness of the razor is mostly dependent on the initial bevel and that polishing that bevel just makes it smoother to shave with. So no matter how much i try to polish the edge, it won't get much sharper. Is this correct?

Think of the edge as a point of a triangle. Setting the bevel gets you a point on the triangle, but progressively finer stones make that point less jagged (polished) and a sharper point.

In essence you are correct. According to your progression/stones you use. The bevel is the MOST important part of getting a truely sharp razor as after the 4K (+/- a little considering stones) you are simply polishing/refining the edge for shave comfort.

You have studied well...sharpening knives and honing razors are two different worlds aren't they? Cool thing is that you can take what you learn from the razor honing and apply it moreso to knife sharpening versus the opposite.

The razors start cutting hair at about .50 microns, you should hit that at the bevel set..

Razors will max out between .37-.48 Microns depending on the grind and steel...

Basically the bevel set (1k) is 90% of the work, sharpening (2k-6k) is about another 7% polishing (6k-9k) is about 2% and Finishing (10k and above) is the last 1%... Finishing is also the most hotly debated and most expensive part of honing a Straight Razor

The grit equivalents are given for perspective, not exact correlations..

You still get some (very little) sharpening at the higher levels but you are doing way more smoothing then sharpening up there...

The biggest challenge in honing a Straight Razor is knowing when and where you are as you are climbing this ladder

Originally Posted by gssixgun

The biggest challenge in honing a Straight Razor is knowing when and where you are as you are climbing this ladder

That is the real deal.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

The biggest challenge in honing a Straight Razor is knowing when and where you are as you are climbing this ladder

Yep, the more I learn, the more I realize I don't know...

Originally Posted by gssixgun

The biggest challenge in honing a Straight Razor is knowing when and where you are as you are climbing this ladder

+2 I suppose!

Originally Posted by shooter74743

Yep, the more I learn, the more I realize I don't know...

Ditto...
My dad taught me at a young age; the day you stop learning is the day you die.

I am doing my first concerted attempt at setting a bevel today as well with a vintage razor that came in from ebay. I thought I was doing pretty well until I took out the jeweler's loupe and took a closer look.

LOL, ain't so easy is it? Well at least you had a loop to see with. Imagine just tearing away without thought.