Thread: Setting a bevel!!!! I get it now!!

Ive watched every video i could find and logged about 15hrs over my stones and then today i thought.....'maybe i haven't set a bevel yet.'

I was sure i set a bevel. I brought home a microscope and sure enough....no bevel. I spent way way long on the 4000 i have and finally set the bevel.

Within 10 min of getting a good bevel i was able to take hair off of my arm.

lots of fine tuning and stropping and i have no hair on my arms, chest and legs!



So no matter how many times i heard it .... Setting the bevel is very important! I get it now.

Congratulations!

Well, you can say "set the bevel" and people can hear "set the bevel", but until you actually do "set the bevel" for the first time it's just a concept really.

Now you know what it is you are actually aiming for, your honing should really take off.

James.

Yes, setting the bevel is about 80% of honing a blade, the rest is just icing on the cake.

Congrats on the epiphany about setting a bevel. I remember having one of those and how much my honing improved after that. If I can easily shave arm hair all along the blade edge off my bevel setter I am usually good to go up the progression.

Bob

FYI: When Bob is talking about shaving arm hair he is talking mid-upper shaft, not near the skin.

Congrats!

I too just recently learned to hone my own razor to absolute shave ready awesomeness! Like you I had been honing and honing some more on my Norton 4k/8k and polishing on the 12k and endlessly stropping but with no real luck cutting arm hair.

Then finally I decided to drop down to my a Norton 1k and do 1 set of Lynn Abram's circle method with pressure, then another set on my 4k and BOOM, cutting arm hairs perfectly!

It was certainly one of life's " AHHAAA" "OHHH I GET IT NOW" moments lol.

Since I had that first epiphany I've been able to kill the edge and re-set the bevel a couple of times with absolute success...always being able to shave arm hair, albeit not perfectly off the 1k or 4k stone...when the experts say "it's all about the bevel" they are absolutely correct!

Originally Posted by shooter74743

FYI: When Bob is talking about shaving arm hair he is talking mid-upper shaft, not near the skin.

No I do not mean tree topping if that is what you mean.

In any event, it is good the OP found a way to verify if his bevel was set or not before continuing up the progression. In a previous post it was pointed out that there are several methods/tests that can be used to validate a bevel set. I am sure that there are individual variances of these tests that are tuned to the individuals using them. The biggest point being to find a method that works for you or everything else after the bevel set could easily be a wasted effort.

Bob

I always like to say that one test can fool you, so always do two or three tests. My three bevel tests are the arm hair test, the thumb pad, and the look test.

After 1k this is what i look for. The razor should cut arm hair effortlessly all along the blade with no pressure. The edge should feel super sharp and stick to my thumb. The edge should look polished without magnification; and under a magnifier the very edge should look very straight without reflecting light.

Michael

Originally Posted by Boxertim

Ive watched every video i could find and logged about 15hrs over my stones and then today i thought.....'maybe i haven't set a bevel yet.'

I was sure i set a bevel. I brought home a microscope and sure enough....no bevel. I spent way way long on the 4000 i have and finally set the bevel.

Within 10 min of getting a good bevel i was able to take hair off of my arm.

lots of fine tuning and stropping and i have no hair on my arms, chest and legs!



So no matter how many times i heard it .... Setting the bevel is very important! I get it now.

Until the thin bands being abraded by the stone on each side of the blade intersect to form a fresh edge, there is no edge to refine with the higher grit stones. Until that intersection (bevel set) is achieved, the high grit stones are only polishing the bands rubbing on the stone, not refining the razor to a shave-able keen edge.

Originally Posted by BobH

Congrats on the epiphany about setting a bevel. I remember having one of those and how much my honing improved after that. If I can easily shave arm hair all along the blade edge off my bevel setter I am usually good to go up the progression.

Bob

Originally Posted by BobH

No I do not mean tree topping if that is what you mean.

In any event, it is good the OP found a way to verify if his bevel was set or not before continuing up the progression. In a previous post it was pointed out that there are several methods/tests that can be used to validate a bevel set. I am sure that there are individual variances of these tests that are tuned to the individuals using them. The biggest point being to find a method that works for you or everything else after the bevel set could easily be a wasted effort.

Bob

I guess I don't understand your arm hair testing then. I understand what you mean about testing the entire length of the blade to make sure it will all shave, but I am not understanding if you shave close to the skin or ???