Thread: Need some honing help please

As indicated above, photos would help. Are these wedges? if not, I'm unsure how you're getting scratches on the body of the razor. My experience is that for any thing other than a true wedge only the spine and the bevel should touch the hone, unless you have a LOT of slurry.

I will try and get some picks of it up close and post them today. To answer a question asked, the scratches are going up the blade in the same direction as the stroke and no they are not wedge blades. I will see if i can get a good shot of my Double Duck that i scratched.

Ok so here is a set of picks of my double duck up close. You can see the scratch marks that are left behind after honing.

JDOC,

Photo 1 looks like you are hitting the stabilizer on the corner near the edge of the heel.

Do you have a photo of the stabilizer on the other side? That side seems to have more scratches that may be caused by the stabilizer as it drops off the edge of the hone and the razor hits the corner of the stone and scratching the belly of the razor. You may also notice that you are having problems honing the lower heel portion of the edge. It may be at times completely off the stone when it is riding on the stabilizer, preventing the edge from contacting the stone. An uneven bevel is also an indicator.

More photos of both sides will confirm this. You will see a shiny spot on the lower corner of the stabilizer where it is contacting the stone.

If so, the stabilizer will need to be reshaped so it does not interfere with honing of the heel.

Your heel also looks like it is in need of reshaping, that heel will cut you.

With that many scratches along such a long portion of the blade it looks like you may have taken a stroke or two off the end on the stone and let the blade drag across the edge of the stone. I am by no means an expert just stating my opinion based on what I see. Good luck in your search!!

Chris

Sharkbite, That is a possibility, like i said i am kinda new to honing razors. I can get an edge that shaves great just i keep scratching the blade.

Euclid, Here is the pic you asked for of the heel on the other side, i hope it came out ok so you can see what you wanted.

I did a razor tonight and tied less slurry and really took my time but i still ended up with some scratches on the body of the blade just not as bad. This is one of those things that i think will get better with practice but i would very much like to know what i am doing wrong so i can correct myself. Im guessing that you are not to go up on the heel at all right? Im finding that this is a fine art to do it right and im still playing with water colors

To me it seems in the first picture (the one on the left) the wear near the heel is significant. On the last (the other side of the razor) the wear at the heel seems less. That doesn't look like a good edge at the heel to me in the first pic.

I feel if all those scratches are indeed from the hone with a hollow grind like that you are doing something very wrong, that part of the razor shouldn't even be coming close to touching the hone. If indeed the razor is slipping off the hone and you're dragging the edge of the razor (i.e. side of the razor; the grind) on the corner of the hone you need to concentrate a LOT more and maybe slow down. I think you'd also need to use a massive amount of slurry (and a very harsh slurry ) to generate those scratches too. What are you making the slutty with?

My suggestion is:

(a) Slow down and/or concentrate really hard. EACH stroke is important. In the past I've go very annoyed at myself after possibly ruining 1/2 an hour of honing due to losing concentration and making one bad stroke; you know it when it happens.

(b) Use no slurry. Eliminate it as a problem.

(c) Try to find someone near you to show you how to hone and evaluate yours.

(d) If you can, post a short video of your honing, as little as ten strokes, just so we get the idea of what you are doing.

To be honest, I don't really understand how you got those scratches. They MUST be left over from a very low grit, but i still don't know how you managed to get the hone to scratch the razor there; I can only imagine you have a massive amount of slurry at the bevel setting stage. I'm also (as I said) wondering what you're creating the slurry with; you're not using the lapping stone or anything are you?!?

Sorry you have me stumped, this is one for Glen or Lynn or some of the other honing experts...

Carl

[EDIT] PS, make sure your hone is clean and has no debris on it...

Are you Chamfering the edge of the hone ??? just a couple of times right before you hone, Stubear did a nice vid here

http://straightrazorpalace.com/video...dges-hone.html


Dropping the elbow as you come off the hone is also a culprit of causing scratches and is hard to catch unless you really pay attention.

Are you honing straight up and down the hone?? as that is what the scratches indicate ???

Too much slurry at the 1 k level can cause scratches, especially if the slurry is from another stone

I have only seen scratches like that by letting the razor slide right over the end of the hone and by putting far too much pressure on a very hollow ground blade.

If the finish was pristine before then I reckon you are devaluing rather than enhancing the price of the razor, so I would advise using an old beater to practice on until you can identify and remedy the fault.

Regards,
Neil

As Sharkbite & Neil said, you may have gone off the end of the stone and hit the belly of the blade. Just one stroke would cause this. The other side, left looks like the stabilizer may have caused the scratching on the Duck, I am not seeing this on the right side. Some ink will tell you how much contact is occurring.

If you are having this problem with multiple razors, I suspect technique. As said too much pressure and speed are a common problem with novice honers, I believe you went off the edge of the stone, on the right side of the Duck, the scratches look to be about the width of a stone. You can match them up and see.

Stop your stroke an inch or two short of the end of the stone. I try to keep the puddle of water from falling off the edge of the stone. Moving the puddle back and forth across the stone will keep you from falling off the edge and force you slow down and concentrate on your stroke.

You do want to hone the heel. The whole edge needs to be sharp and smooth. Honing heel forward is a good way to hone the heel. I use the whole edge when shaving which is why I like a sharp pointed tip.

Scratches can be sanded and or buffed out, but as advised learning on some less collectable razors may be a good idea. You can buy Gold dollars for 2 bucks, and they can be made to shave, at the least you will learn to hone, they can be challenging and if you completely ruined a razor you’re out 2 buck.

Honing hundred year old razors is just problem solving that requires a methodical, analytical approach. You are at step two of the “Problem Solving Cycle” you have identified a problem, now you have to define the problem (cause) by eliminating factors, slurry, pressure, speed, stone edge, stabilizer height, and control (honing off the edge).

We can advise, only you can identify the problem.

Enjoy