First time i hone my razor.

Hi,

Many says: "almost everything has a first time to do/happens in our lifes". (it's one popular saying in my country)

After i readed a thread from Lynn (http://straightrazorpalace.com/begin...rt-honing.html) i felt little bit of courrage to try to hone my razor for the first time. (it was very dull)

Today i took the challenge.

After a lot of thinking on what should i do, i decided to do this system:

One combo stone 3000/8000
One stone 12000
Strop Mountain Mike.

5 passes on 3000.
10 passes on 8000.
15 passes on 12000.

30 passes on linen side.
50 passes on leather side.

I hade to make this system two times to get the razor to start to shave again. It took hairs from my arm and from my belly. I try to shave and on my cheeks was ok but on my neck no. It's not 100% shave ready yet, but i've lost the fear to make mistakes on my first honing attempt.

I'll keep going on this trip now!!!

Thanks Lynn!!!

See you all... Flávio.

The low grit laps were likely not enough. You can hone in predetermined steps and lap counts like pyramid honing AFTER the bevel is set. The bevel set is only determined when its set! 10 laps 100 laps etc. As many as it takes and most of the sharpness you will get in that step.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bill3152

The low grit laps were likely not enough. You can hone in predetermined steps and lap counts like pyramid honing AFTER the bevel is set. The bevel set is only determined when its set! 10 laps 100 laps etc. As many as it takes and most of the sharpness you will get in that step.

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Thanks... I'll keep on trying.

Yea, once you get your feet wet it is not so bad. I was thinking though that I usually stay on the 3000 till the blade will shave arm hair all along the edge and then go up from there. That usually means I do more strokes on the 3000, less on the 8000 and even less on the 12000. The reverse of your method. The major work of forming the bevel/edge is done on the lower grit and refined on the higher grits and requires fewer strokes. Have fun and enjoy.

Bob

Slow as usual in replying, I see Bill already has made the point.

Bob

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BobH

Yea, once you get your feet wet it is not so bad. I was thinking though that I usually stay on the 3000 till the blade will shave arm hair all along the edge and then go up from there. That usually means I do more strokes on the 3000, less on the 8000 and even less on the 12000. The reverse of your method. The major work of forming the bevel/edge is done on the lower grit and refined on the higher grits and requires fewer strokes. Have fun and enjoy.

Bob

Slow as usual in replying, I see Bill already has made the point.

Bob

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Thank you to Bob.
I'll follow both advices.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bill3152

The low grit laps were likely not enough. You can hone in predetermined steps and lap counts like pyramid honing AFTER the bevel is set. The bevel set is only determined when its set! 10 laps 100 laps etc. As many as it takes and most of the sharpness you will get in that step.

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Flavio,

+1 on this. Also be cautious of your 12k stone. It cuts very fast and can destroy an edge very quickly. In most cases your 15 passes on it is pushing it to the limit. Try to stop at ten. While there is no predetermined number of strokes that will hone an edge, I've found that there is a number that will ruin one when it comes to the 12k. Best of luck to you.

Glad to hear your honing your own razors, Flavio

,,,,,,,,,,,just stay away from those "belly hairs" with your straight; that's like trying to run a weed-eater through cattails,,,:beer2:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hirlau

Glad to hear your honing your own razors, Flavio

,,,,,,,,,,,just stay away from those "belly hairs" with your straight; that's like trying to run a weed-eater through cattails,,,:beer2:

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OK... Understood.

I find I need to stay at the bevel setting stage until the razor feels sticky on the hone. It's no longer gliding back and forth, but it's like the hone is sucking the blade down. From there the rest of the progression gets kinda boring.

(sorry for the rest of you guys, but it's rare to see a brazilian in the forum, so I'll speak to him in our mother language)
Opa, um brasileiro no forum, como está indo o processo de afiação? Eu concordo com o que os outros membros falaram, como o "bevel" da minha navalha já está estabelecido, eu só mantenho o fio em uma norton 8k e uma naniwa 12k, mas se eu tivesse que fazer a progressão em uma navalha que esteja com o fio cego eu trabalharia mais nas granas mais baixas. Flávio, tu tem acesso ao oxido de cromo? É um bom jeito de dar o polimento final no fio, não afia necessariamente mas deixa o barbear bem mais confortável. Qualquer coisa se precisar de ajuda me adiciona no facebook (caso use) Guilherme Dalla Porta. Ou me mande um email (guidallaporta@hotmail.com).
Abraço e boa sorte!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by WilliamDallaPorta

(sorry for the rest of you guys, but it's rare to see a brazilian in the forum, so I'll speak to him in our mother language)
Opa, um brasileiro no forum, como está indo o processo de afiação? Eu concordo com o que os outros membros falaram, como o "bevel" da minha navalha já está estabelecido, eu só mantenho o fio em uma norton 8k e uma naniwa 12k, mas se eu tivesse que fazer a progressão em uma navalha que esteja com o fio cego eu trabalharia mais nas granas mais baixas. Flávio, tu tem acesso ao oxido de cromo? É um bom jeito de dar o polimento final no fio, não afia necessariamente mas deixa o barbear bem mais confortável. Qualquer coisa se precisar de ajuda me adiciona no facebook (caso use) Guilherme Dalla Porta. Ou me mande um email (guidallaporta@hotmail.com).
Abraço e boa sorte!

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As WilliamDallaPorta wrote: "sorry for the rest of you guys, but it's rare to see a brazilian in the forum, so I'll speak to him in our mother language."

Fala aaaee Guilherme!!!

Agora to me sentindo mais à vontade ainda. Mais um da minha terra querida aqui no forum.

Cara, minha primeira tentativa foi como descrito acima e pelo menos a navalha comecou a raspar os pelos do braco e da barriga sem puxar, o que pra mim já foi um progresso. Mas vou re-avaliar e seguir as orientacões que me deram.
O mais difícil pra mim é manter o equilibro e a "pressão" na lâmina. Sou um bom afiador de facas, mas navalhas é um nível mais alto.

Óxido de cromo? Tem isso no ebay ou no amazon? Por aqui nunca vi não.

Outra coisa: preciso fazer o laping da pedra antes de afiar a navalha?

Obrigado pela recepcão e ajuda.

Um grande abraco... Flávio.

Hi everybody!

I was quite busy these days and not very much time to try to hone my razors. But tomorrow i'll try again to get my razors shave ready.

I'll post what happens after i finished honing session.

See you... Flávio.

Ps: I also waiting for my new Revisor 6/8" razor. Maybe comes next week.

Hi,

I've tryed to hone but i'm doing something wrong, so i'll waiting to the 'sharpening meeting' with some SRP members in Oslo to try to fix my mistakes and hone my razors properly.

I already bought Crox and i'm waiting to my balsa wood to comes. After that i think i have everything i need to hone and strop my razors for a long long time.

For now, i'm only using DE razors to shave.

Finally!!! After the norwegian meeting, i'm back on honing.

I bought a new set of waterstones (naniwa 1000, 3000, 5000, 10000) and 12000 i already had it.

Today i took the chalenge and hone my razors. All 4 are shave ready now. :beer1:

Tomorrow will be the restart day on my straight razor journey.

See you... Flávio.

I'm glad it worked out for you. Practice makes perfect.

Good to hear you're on track Flávio, and congrats on the new stones, you really can't go wrong with those :)

It was great seeing you at the meetup, hope you manage to take the trip next time too :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Zephyr

Good to hear you're on track Flávio, and congrats on the new stones, you really can't go wrong with those :)

It was great seeing you at the meetup, hope you manage to take the trip next time too :)

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For sure, i'm ready for the next sharpening meeting.

Ok.
My Revisor and Dovo Best Quality are shaving good.
But my Dovo Bismarck is ok only WTG, but XTG and ATG is a crap. What is wrong? The same system worked to the others razors but not to the Bismark.
Someone has any advice?

It is impossible to diagnose it from here but most problems start with the bevel. Remember that the sharpness of the blade comes from the bevel - the 1000 & 3000 grit stones in your case. The other stones smooth and polish but the bevel must be properly set first.

I'd suggest that you not count strokes but stay on the 1K until it's done. It should catch arm hair above the skin and cut some hairs when it's set. It can help to use magnification to examine the bevel to make sure that it seems to be uniform across the entire edge.

The rest - the finishing - is the easy part, just maintain light and uniform pressure. Also, sometimes we encounter a blade that just won't seem to hone properly and for no good reason. In those cases it's best to set it aside for week or two and then give it another try. For some reason, that often solves the problem.

rs,
Tack

Thanks Tack... I'll do that... next week i'll try again.