The value of mentorship in learning to hone - Part II
Spent another morning with friend and honing mentor, mjsorkin (Michael).
Huge thanks to Michael, and his family, for welcoming my into their home to share this time.
I had learned a ton in our first honing session, simply by watching Michael hone. Online videos are nice, and certainly help, but being close-up and personal, being able to ask questions on the fly, seeing and hearing the action up close makes for a tremendous advancement in the learning curve.
This time, we changed roles. I honed while Michael watched. I suspect this proved to be most advantageous. Michael spotted a few things I could do to improve...
- When the razor hits the stone... it hits spine first!! I really need to work on this;
- My circles were far too abbreviated. I am now focusing on true circles. In most of the video's I have seen, the camera can't keep up with the strokes being made and circles often look like half strokes;
- My blade pressure & contact needs work. My muscle memory isn't set yet and my pressure differs on the away and return strokes. Only way I can perfect this is with practice, so I left with the homework assignment to do at least 300 x-strokes over a few sessions to set the muscle memory. I also asked Michael to again show me the different pressure levels we are using... That's something you simply can't pick up in a video. Michael used the spine of the razor against my palm to show me how much pressure I should be using. We also identified points where I am lift toe or heel;
- I was surprised at how few strokes were required on the Norton 4/8. I'll admit, I was beating my blades into submission with the 'More is Better' attitude.. We fixed that;
- We also focused on the [seemingly controversial] idea of trying to force edge tests to fail, rather than force them to pass. It's a philosophical statement that you either get or you don't.. But for me, it's one of those light bulbs going off. When are you REALLY ready to move on to the next step in the honing progression? False positives appear all over. Cross-test where you are before moving on. It could save a ton of time;
- I learned I need [want] a Chosera 1k instead of my King 1k. I ordered it yesterday. The 'action' of the Chosera just feels better than the King. I am at a loss to explain it much better than that;
- Patience. Be slow and deliberate.
We both had a few bouts of coveting the others gear... It seemed to go like this each time.. Person A - 'If you ever decide to sell that... let me know!! I want!! '
Person B - ' Um.. yeah.. that ain't gonna happen...'
(We discovered we are both waiting on delivery of Ralf Aust 7/8's.. Razor Brothers! Happy New Year!)
Spending time one-on-one, as I have been fortunate to do with Michael, has no doubt accelerated my learning curve. Some facets I may never have gotten had I not seen, heard, felt in person...
Michael, you are a gentleman. A wonderful, patient teacher. Thank you!