Thread: Another New Honer...

Soooo... I just ordered the Norton Combo Set from SRD and they arrived Yesterday. I'm Pretty apprehensive About actually Starting to Hone though... I'm Not sure why as I've watched several Vids by Both Lynn and Glen and of Course they make it look completely effortless!!! But then again I read some these post about people Honing for Hours on a single blade and not getting anywhere... I understand the single most important thing is: BEVEL, BEVEL, BEVEL!!! I'm thinking about using the "20/40 Circles to sharp" method mentioned in some of the vids... I have Quite a few Blades to Practice on so no worries about screwing up a couple times...

My questions are as follows:

1) Is this still the easiest/ Most straightforward Method to learn?
2) As I see it the best thing to start with would be a 5 or 6/8 Half to Full Hollow with no smile right?
3) Where should I start?? the 1k?? the 4k?? the 220?????
4) Any postings of the best vids to watch with a thorough Explanation of the method and the grit progression would be Lovely!!

Thanks again guys for everything!!!

MurmLe

This is both a challenging but also very enjoyable place to be at. You will find being able to bring your own razor up to speed very rewarding. It is definitely worth pushing through the learning curve. Realize that you might unknowingly develop a bad habit or two that upon later discovery need to remove. That's all part of the learning process. All of us were there at one point but we all didn't have the luxury of having such great videos to learn from.

I would start with one of your blades that you don't mind practicing on. Yet it is currently able or nearly able to cut arm hair. It's always better to learn from a razor that is not out of alignment and in fairly good shape. 5/8 and 6/8 somewhat hollows that have a flat edge are excellent examples. GSSIXGUN has several great videos on setting the bevel. I would practice setting it, whether it needs it or not since this is the most important step in honing. For restoring or repairing (sub 1K) I would save that kind of thing for later.

The circles are that Lynn demonstrates are great because they are easy to learn and produce repeatable results. But, you also need to become comfortable with X strokes and they should follow up the circles as you see on the videos. It's OK to use both hands as this will help your comfort level in learning. Just pay attention not to put downward pressure on the blade that would make uneven pressure across the whole edge. Keep in mind that your particular blade might need more or less strokes- that's where testing and developing a "feel" becomes important. Most of the time, those that spend hours honing a particular razor are doing so because they didn't set the bevel in the first place.

It's sort of that time where you just need to go for it. If you get frustrated stop and come back later. Eventually you will see it working for you. Some of us need more ramp up time than others. But if you can already shave with a straight razor then you have demonstrated that you enough coordination to hone. It's just a matter of developing a new habit/muscle memory.

I'm sure someone more experienced than me will be along to give better advice, but I'll throw my tuppence in...

As far as where to start, grit-wise, you have two choices. You can start at the highest (finer) grit and work down until you see the most improvement, and then work progressively back up. In doing so, though, you're putting a lot of faith in the existing bevel. Lots of folks here prefer to set their own bevels so they know they are good. If you start at setting the bevel, assuming there are no chips in the blade and you are at good steel, I'd start at the 1k mark and get the bevel set before moving up to the 4k. Also, you can use the pyramid technique (see the wiki) to help eliminate a lot of the guess work here.

Honing is a skill and you can't learn it by watching video's any more than you could learn to fly a plane by watching cockpit videos.

My advice is use the pyramids. That's the easiest way when you start out.

With honing you do what needs to be done so every razor is different. You need to evaluate the edge. Does it need the bevel reworked? Is there damage to be repaired? Does it just need a good touchup? Does the structure of the blade itself have issues? Depending on those questions will yield the answers.

Advice is, start with a blade just needing a touchup and as you learn how to handle that you move on to more complicated issues. One skill set builds on another. It's like taking math. You wouldn't want to go into an advanced calculus course if you only had 1 semester of algebra. You would be lost. The same with honing.

Start with a basic home like the Norton 4K/8K or similar and start with the basics. Don't worry about the other stuff for now.

I'm learning also. I only have practiced on a couple of razors but one thing I've learned is that bevel setting is 90% of the honing deal. I've been determing by using the shave test and the shave test only. If there are whiskers left after the 4k or 1k after three directions/passes then I stay on the 4k until all the hair is gone. At that point I've been moving up to the 8k, 12k, etc.

Originally Posted by gfro

I'm learning also. I only have practiced on a couple of razors but one thing I've learned is that bevel setting is 90% of the honing deal. I've been determing by using the shave test and the shave test only. If there are whiskers left after the 4k or 1k after three directions/passes then I stay on the 4k until all the hair is gone. At that point I've been moving up to the 8k, 12k, etc.

The shave test is the best and most definitive. Those 1-4K shaves can be a bit rough though- be careful!

Thank you guys for the information and the encouragement, a couple more questions... as time goes by I start thinking and worrying a skosh more about the other things... like Slurry?!?!? How to make it, when to make it, do I use it? diluting, How and when??

I don't know of anyone has tried this before...but whipped dog has a honing feed back service...the way it works they send you a blade to hone...you do the work and they tell you where you are at in the learning curve of course there is small fee....if anyone had done this let us know about the experience!

Originally Posted by Murmle

Thank you guys for the information and the encouragement, a couple more questions... as time goes by I start thinking and worrying a skosh more about the other things... like Slurry?!?!? How to make it, when to make it, do I use it? diluting, How and when??

Don't worry too much about the slurry for now. You can raise it with your lapping stone (though not as easily as with a nagura stone). Really, I'd probably go back to thebigspendur's advice about starting with touch-up and progressively work your way from there.

yes thats true 1holegrouper