honing- angle of the stroke

[steve]

I've always been told that to hone a razor you put the heel of the razor on the hone and do a diagonal stroke such that you finish with the toe of the razor on the stone. Reverse. Result is an X-pattern starting with the heel and ending with the toe.

I'm trying to visualize the "teeth" this creates.


toe_____________________heel
teeth//////////////////////////////

Now, the cutting stroke on the face = toe leading (according to barbers textbooks at least)

I'm not a woodworker so I don't know much about saws .

I don't have a saw to reference so I'm probably all wet but I was reading something (http://www.muzzleblasts.com/archives...s/mbo45-6.html) and they discuss the stroke on the hone = the shaving stroke (mainly, toe leading).

I guess they figure you'd get a better cut with this setup (hone stroke = toe leading)

toe___________________heel
teeth\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\



I had not heard of this and since it bucks traditional wisdom, I naturally came here for instruction and education.

Does instinct lead me correctly to place this article in the "don't trust everything you read on the internet" category?

[honedright]

Steve,

I use the honing technique from the standard barber manual (1950) and end up with edge striations matching your second diagram:

point_______________________heel
edge\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\



Scott

[steve]

Scott:

thanks for that clarification. I'm not surprised that I got my visualization backwards. I'm not very good at things like that. It also explains why the barber manual (which I'm learning to keep by my side ) instructs that way.

Glad I asked!

[honedright]

Also checked out that "Muzzle Blast" link. The terminology for the razor is off. They're calling the "back" of the razor the "heel" and the honing stroke looks wrong to me.

I'd stick with your manual - Trust the force......

[steve]

Also checked out that "Muzzle Blast" link. The terminology for the razor is off. They're calling the "back" of the razor the "heel" and the honing stroke looks wrong to me.

I'd stick with your manual - Trust the force......

Yep, think I will. In my ponderings thread I mention that I try to copy the manual because that's the way they've trained barbers for years (decades) and I figure they got it figured out right. Every once in a while, something wierd comes across my eyes and I like to have a board like SRP to check it's validity/nonvalidity.

Without exception, the questioned subject matter always fails the test of SRP experience and/or barber manual instruction.

I think I just got a little more smarter.

BTW- where on earth do you get those animated smilies??