Hi gents,
I just wanted to share my first time honing experience. I've been SR shaving for about 2 yrs now, and have until this point used a leather/linen strop to maintain the edge on my razors. I'd send them to get honed about once a year if the stropping wasn't doing the job. A few months ago I bought a used carbo barber's hone and have used it several times, with good effect.
I read up on all the different types of hones and settled on the Norton 4K/8K, as it covered my needs and was affordable. I bought a DMT 325 grit lapping hone and a stone holder (to prevent sliding). I soaked the Norton until the bubbles disappeared (20 mins) and got to work with a Swedish blade that's been out of rotation for a while.
I was very apprehensive at first as I didn't quite know what to expect, but the guides and how-tos on here provided me with enough positive feedback to keep going. I saw the leading edge push a ripple of water with each stroke, and kept the razor pretty much flat (the spine only slightly above the stone). I used the pyramid method and then stropped on linen/leather.
The razor didn't pass the HHT as easily as I've seen in videos, and didn't pass the AHT at all. I stropped again and then decided to go with a shave. And the results...
were amazing. It was an incredible shave, which leads me to believe I'm not doing the HHT or AHT correctly. So, thank you to all those who've posted in the past (esp with pics and video) on how to hone, and any suggestions on the HHT or AHT would be welcome.