Thread: Need a better Honing Game plan!

Ok team here's my deal:
I have a Japanese waterstone set with 800/3000 combo, a 6000, an 8000 and i just picked up a 12k chinese today. I have an SRD rock hard felt (with premium fabric) treated with Cromium Oxide spray, a Classic shaving black latigo 2" strop and I have a whipped dog poor mans strop kit on the way.

I have been able to hone out chips and frowns and take a razor to what I would call a shave ready razor (no where close to the highly tuned blades that lynn hones!!! but passable).

I would like to take my razors to a better place of sharpness as I find that fresh of the 8k and CrO and strop the edge leaves me a little more red than I would like.

I generally work in sets of 20, 10x, 20 and repeat until the razor can do a neat pass. As I have not had the 12k Until today, I have not seen how it will improve the edge.

any and all help would be greatly appreciated!

Chinese PHIG's as we affectionately call them are much like any other Natural stone as they vary between themselves with performance...
You need to lap it flat first and that will give you some hints as to what you have there..
After the 8k you are just going to have to play around with that stone to find out what exactly it is going to do and how it is going to do it...
I have owned 4 of them myself and honed on 4 more at the various meets that I have been at, there are differences in them, the really really good ones tend to feel like you are honing on Talcum Powder when using their milky white slurry...
Some actually feel and act very scratchy with slurry, sometimes they can be used with just water as a finisher but they tend to take many many laps to get there...

Which one you have, only you can tell so basically try it and learn..

This is an old thread I wrote about my journey with them

http://straightrazorpalace.com/hones...nese-hone.html

Just so I understand 100% are you talking about this one from woodcraft for 22 bucks
Amazon.com: Natural Water Stone, 8" x 2" x 1": Home Improvement

Looks like the one i have

"I generally work in sets of 20, 10x, 20 and repeat until the razor can do a neat pass."

Could you explain what you mean by "20, 10x, 20" as well as what qualifies as a "neat pass"?

alb1981,
How long have you been shaving? Would you say you know now to shave with a straight razor and get a comfortable shave every time?

I ask this because if the answer to this question (you don't have to answer me...just yourself) is "no, I don't get a comfortable shave every time", then maybe you should work on shaving for a bit longer so that you truly know what a razor is supposed to do and not do in regards to shaving. Once you have shaving down, then by all means get into honing. Typically learning to "touch-up" a razor that is starting to pull is the first step, then getting into honing. If at all you could find a person to show you the ropes when it comes to honing it would shorten your learning curve significantly. Best of luck to you...Scott

Scott, shaving is good. Just wanting to learn honing so that I do not have to pay every time. I wish I knew someone around Phoenix to show me the ropes on honing

Check the communtiy map for someone in your area: http://straightrazorpalace.com/vbgoo...hp?do=showmain

I understand wanting to hone, I felt the same way. It's nothing like sharpening a knife...but if you have patience you will get there. Main piece of advice is to use one layer of tape on the spine of your razors so you won't cause un-due hone wear and watch video's by folks you know to be good at honing.

Ya I have been watching video's by Lynn, but there is nothing better than seeing it life and having guidence. Like I said before, this is mostly about taking the razor to the next level of sharpness.

BTW do you have any experience with the Rock hard felt and how often you should reapply CrO spray?

Alb1981,
I am new to the business of straights,but I have spent the last 5 months. concentrating on honing.
I too had a "routine" when I started to hone. I soon learned to not develop a routine, but evaluate each blade first through magnification. Every edge is approached differently. Some shave ready in 20 minutes; some need a bevel set and take longer.
I recently touched up my daily razor with a NeverDull barber hone with only 6 strokes & strop, she's back in the game. I usually touch up with a Shapton 16000.
Sorry for any grammar errors, this is from my cell.