Thread: Honing and pressure

Too much pressure will ruin it and too little will keep us honing forever. I dont know how much pressure I use at all, but I figure some swarf after 10 strokes or so is my yardstick.

I've wondered myself just how firm "firm pressure" or "light pressure" really is. the conclusion I came to is that without sitting with these guys or seeing it on a scale (thanks to the OP btw!!!) there really isn't much of a way to tell.

Its all about the results without picking everything apart. If your edges are in the realm of what you get when you send it out, then your good. If there is a problem, then you need to look at everything.

Interesting thought! I've been trying to work out my honing lately with mixed results. I've tried using 'no pressure' and have struggled to get a sharp edge even with a whole lot of laps. On the third and final razor I attempted this evening I used what I would consider to be medium pressure and eased up throughout the laps on each stone, ending with very light pressure. That got me the best edge I've attained thus far, so hopefully I can dial it in and repeat the results. I'll have to keep practicing so I can recognize how it should feel for me since I don't think my reloading scale has the capacity and my soap scale isn't the most responsive.

Hey Guys didn't forget about the video! I've had a lot going on this year all ready (not starting out good) Septic tank collapsed (cha-ching!), Front right wheel bearing on my truck went oh and by the way you need tires too
(Cha-Ching!) (it's been an expensive start to 2014). So anyway just like all the rest of you I've been preoccupied with life, wife, kids and bills sigh.......Then a guy I work with was in a car accident and he will not be back for some time, he was on his way in to relieve me when it happen, somebody came across into his lane. Of course his shift needs covered, I will have two days off over the next three weeks. Good news is, OVERTIME, bad news is it's going toward the non fun stuff I mentioned at the beginning. So anyway I just haven't had time and intend to follow through with this.

So how is your coworker? Hopefully that will be all your emergencys for the year.

Pressure really depends on what your doing. It can vary from razor to razor big time. You have to be able to look at the bevel and know what your looking at. Setting a bevel requires more pressure, while finishing requires very little, normally just the weight of the blade. Repairing an uneven bevel requires even more pressure to the uneven area. Sometimes more than you'd think. Another thing you have to think about is "even pressure" or is pressure being applied evenly across the blade.

Muscle memory is the big thing. I wouldn't mind seeing how much pressure I use when honing. It would be interesting.

Like Glen said, These tests have been done before on Coticule.be. I think he posted actual weights.

Good luck to you...

Pressure is force per unit area. So, for a given force (as measured with a scale) the pressure will depend on the width of the bevel and the width of the hone. I have a razor with a 3mm wide bevel and my 2H2H is around 80 microns, so with the same force, the honing pressure on the 2H2H will be 3000/80 or 37.5 times higher. I have a 1 inch wide Coticule, so the for the same razor and same force, the pressure will be 3 times higher than for a 3 inch stone.

Originally Posted by fuzzychops

Pressure is force per unit area. So, for a given force (as measured with a scale) the pressure will depend on the width of the bevel and the width of the hone. I have a razor with a 3mm wide bevel and my 2H2H is around 80 microns, so with the same force, the honing pressure on the 2H2H will be 3000/80 or 37.5 times higher. I have a 1 inch wide Coticule, so the for the same razor and same force, the pressure will be 3 times higher than for a 3 inch stone.

I was going to come in and mention this, but you beat me to it. Better you did it than me, as I do not know the exact sizes of my smallest beveled and largest beveled razor and could not give real scenario numbers like you did.

Using that scale could actually cause issues if you tried to hit the same numbers every time without considering stone size and blade-to-stone contact area from one razor to the next. Being mindful of those things, then the scale could show some benefit.

Very interesting test. I'm Looking forward to the video.