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Well, I've honed my McDonald blade three times now. Last time with a taped spine, just to see. The edge is smooth and the bevel is polished. Looks fine. Does it even catch on hairs? No. Does it pop them off if I try to dry shave my arm? No.
Succession of 1000, 5000, 8000, 12000 naniwa, applied in the manner of Lynn. Most bepuzzling.
What happened to the Chef'sChoice?
Sorry, not dipping back into those religious waters in the forum; way too unpleasant last time. Happy to reply to a PM.Quote:
Originally Posted by CatanUS
Oh Ok. I didn't know where you had left your proposed experiment; was curious as to the outcome.Quote:
Originally Posted by Headcrowny
But if you have moved to hones, I will make assumptions.
Either way, good to hear of your honing progress.
How about not moving off the 1000K till it pops arm hairs at skin level. If it doesn't do that the rest is a waste of time.
Bob
+1 to staying on the 1k till it shaves arm hair... as Gssixgun would say BEVEL BEVEL BEVEL! if you don't set a proper bevel on the 1k yer not gonna get anywhere with the higher grits.
There are 4 good tests for a solid bevel set, you have to figure which one(s) work best for you
1. AHT
2. TNT
3. TPT
4. Magnification
The more of these that work for you the better but you have to get at least one solid test that tells you the bevel is well set
Yes it really is that sharp at the bevel set
http://straightrazorpalace.com/honin...-1k-shave.html
After that it gets much easier, also to much Bevel Set is also a bad thing, unlike other types of honing that raise a burr, then polish that off, bringing up a burr on a SR is a serious waste of steel and time because you went right by the optimum set point..
Often times we call this "Sneaking up on the edge"
Sure, I can try that. I wasn't trying that at 1000K; wasn't aware it'd happen at that low a grit level.Quote:
Originally Posted by BobH
Oh, I see a great bevel. Nice and flat and shiny. That's what causes me perplexity.
I'll have to check what the acronyms mean but number 4 "seems" fine. Looked at it under a loupe and jewelers dealie. However, I guess looking good and being good must not necessarily be co-existant.Quote:
Originally Posted by gssixgun
Arm Hair Test
Thumb Nail Test
Thumb Pad Test
Use a new DE blade to get a feel for what these should feel like...
It's not how the sides of the bevel look that matters, it's how close both those sides are to each other. This is the main consideration at the low grit level. Basically with straight razors the grits get quite high relative to other kinds of sharpening (on average, that is), and therefore what tends to happen is that if you don't get things sharp enough at the low grits the higher grits will take too long and you end up with nice shiny bevels on a dull dull edge.Quote:
Originally Posted by Headcrowny
Some people refer to it as the polished turd effect.
James.
Magnification of the sides of the bevel cannot tell you anything about how far apart the two sides are, and therefore cannot tell you how sharp the edge is.Quote:
Originally Posted by Headcrowny
I only use magnification to look for things like microchipping, not for assessing sharp.
James.
I'm not sure if this helps any but a proper bevel is not necessarily a flat, polished side. Its the bringing together of those two sides completely that forms a bevel. You can check with a microscope to see if the cutting edge is still visible. If it is, you're not there. You won't be able to actually see it unless your magnification is super high. The loupe is good to watch what is happening during the process, see if the edge is even or has chips in it, and see the scratch patterns. Once the sides come together correctly, it will cut hair or pass the other mentioned tests. If you're grinding away at lower grits for hours on end, there may be other factors involved.Quote:
Originally Posted by Headcrowny
You beat me to it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jimbo
As Jim said, the Idea of setting the bevel on 1000K is to get the sides to meet. The bevel will shine under light but under magnification you will see striations from the course, to us, 1000K hone. Going up the progression should eliminate most if not all the striations and will look mirror finished in the end.
Have you tried using a magic marker on the bevel to see what you are doing on the hone?
Honing a straight razor is not science or some fixed formula but a skill set, a sorta touchy feely proposition.
Bob
You mean put magic marker on the edge then hone and see if any pigment remains?
See where it remains , yep. I hate it because it gets black all over my hone. :<0)
Yea use it like layout dye. It will show you what you may or may not miss under magnification.Quote:
Originally Posted by Headcrowny
Bob