Thread: Honing question

Hello I'm a newbie, so please don't hammer me too hard regarding my question..lol... I have a dovo straight razor and I've been having trouble getting the cutting edge to lay flat on the stone while honing...the blade lays flat on the stone but it's the cutting edge that's not quite making contact with the stone.
Should I tape the spine and use ...say a 220 grit stone to get it to lay flat?
I appreciate any advise from the professionals here...
Thanks in advance for your advice.
Tearp.

You can tape it or try laying the blade flat but at a 45 degree angle to the hone and see if the blade makes contact that way. Some blades need to be rocked. Impossible to say from here though. Make sure the stones are flat. A 220 may do more harm than good.

Yeah Bill, now that I think about it...220 is a bit harsh.
Thanks for your reply.

Tearp, 220 is way harsh bud. Try 4/8k unless the edge is far gone. I'm not a honemeister yet but try this. Get a jewelers loupe. Mark the razors edge with a sharpie marker. Use 1 layer of tape. Make sure the tape isn't way longer than the spine. Lay the razor FLAT on the hone and without pressure, use your free hand to guide the point side. Make your best x stroke. After this, look at your edge on both sides with the loupe and see where you made contact with the hone (the marker will be worn away where contact is made). Unless your razor is bent, it's most likely a honing stroke issue. Hope this helps. It's just info that a mentor gave me.

I'm also fairly new to the sport. I bought all the right stones for honing and was having trouble. I started watching the guys on the u tube (lynn abrams and Sixgun) that made a world of difference for me. I went from an edge that pulled to one that cuts. now I'm not anywhere in the league and those guys but i'm a lot better than I was. good luck.

This may be so obvious as to risk insult, but also be sure you don't just have the shoulder of the blade on the stone. I managed to mess up a new DOVO--my very first straight--in my first honing attempts, and I've thought later that that might have been my mistake (or one of them). Place it "heel forward" in the honing direction to help make sure the shoulder is off the hone.

Thanks Gentlemen for your help..this is a cool forum!

Hang in there. You'll find lots of help here AND make some new friends along the way.

Are you sure that the hone(s) are flat ? Is it the first time when you hone it ? Was it shaved good before the honing ?

Yes the stone is flat...the razor is new, and I bought it shave ready.