Thread: Where do I find Lynn's honing pyramid?

I want to check my notes to make sure that I have Lynn's honing pyramid down right. Please tell me where I can find Lynn's honing pyramid.

Hello Rich,

From me, of course.......hahahahahahaha.

Depends on what shape the razor is in so you know where to start from. I use the Norton 4K/8K and may start as high as 10 stokes on the 4K followed by 10 on the 8K then to 5-5, then to 3-3, then to 1-3, 1-3 or 1-5. For Stainless I usually finish with a 1-7. Less strokes are better. You can go up to 15 to start or 25 to start if really in bad shape, but that's a lot. I will usually go from the Norton to either an Escher, or Coticule. Lot's of variations and experimentation. If you get close, you may only want to do a couple of 1-3's or 3-5 on the 8K followed by the polishing stone.

Have fun.

Lynn

Originally Posted by adjustme69

Hello Rich,

From me, of course.......hahahahahahaha.

Depends on what shape the razor is in so you know where to start from. I use the Norton 4K/8K and may start as high as 10 stokes on the 4K followed by 10 on the 8K then to 5-5, then to 3-3, then to 1-3, 1-3 or 1-5. For Stainless I usually finish with a 1-7. Less strokes are better. You can go up to 15 to start or 25 to start if really in bad shape, but that's a lot. I will usually go from the Norton to either an Escher, or Coticule. Lot's of variations and experimentation. If you get close, you may only want to do a couple of 1-3's or 3-5 on the 8K followed by the polishing stone.

Have fun.

Lynn

Newbie here, so be gentle.

I have a new straight razor honed by Lynn and just shaved with it for the first time today. Everything went fine. I was unnecessarily nervous about it. No cuts, and I'm pretty happy with it, but I need to learn to hone and strop, and now seems to be the time. I have a 40-page document by Christopher Moss that seems very detailed and from which I've learned a great deal, but with the mention here of Lynn's honing pyramid, I can't help but ask about what this means. I know (thanks to Christopher Moss) about the 4k/8k, but what's a 1-3 and a 3-5 and 5-5 and 3-3 and 1-5 and Escher and Coticule all that stuff, and where would I buy them? I don't see these terms listed in the product catalog at classicshaving.com or in Christopher Moss's book/document.

I just wanna be able to maintain my edge myself and start learning. Along those lines, what would you recommend I start with, Lynn, for honing and stropping?

Thanks for any replies and thanks for honing my razor, Lynn. It really was a pleasure to shave with although it probably would have been even more of a pleasure if I had stropped it first, but I took the "shave-ready" language literally and shaved with it straight out of the box (no pun intended). Had no choice since I didn't buy a strop when I bought the razor. I should have read more of Christopher Moss before completing the purchase and then I would have known that I needed to strop before every shave.

Regards,
Jimmy

I'd have to agree with Lynn. You're best off getting Lynn's pyramid from Lynn himself.

I think I seen one for sale on ebay The bidding was crazy though

Lynn, how long on average does it take you to get an ebay junker up to shave ready?

I think that I remember him saying that if a razor takes you longer than a half hour to get sharp then you are doing something wrong.

Originally Posted by heavydutysg135

I think that I remember him saying that if a razor takes you longer than a half hour to get sharp then you are doing something wrong.

Damn.

Hey Lynn,

I used to be told (and still employ) a run up the pyramid to start (3/5,5/5,10/10) and then back down again. Why is this not being recommended any longer? Wasn't As necessary as it seemed? Was not the norm when I read it and still isn't?

X

Let me test my newbie thinking on this... I'll try a run of question answering, then you guys can just fire away at me :-).

1/3 means one stroke (there and back again) on the 4K side, followed by three strokes on the 8K. So 3/3 would be three return strokes on the 4K, then three on the 8K.

I would guess that the reason Lynn suggests going up the pyramid then down is that thee instructions miss out one very important point: always test the blade (thumb pad or hanging hair) after each set, and stop if you are good to go with it. Running up the pyramid works when you are rehoning an already sharp blade, and makes sure that you don't over hone.

For a junker blade, you might just as well start with a 10/10 or 20/10, then work back down the pyramid. Still test after each set, you might get lucky, but you'll probably need to work all the way down to the 1/x strokes.

How was that?