Thread: help a newbie razor honer?

Hi all, I'd like an opinion on wether these stones will give a great edge?
I plan to use king waterstones in 1k and 6k and finish with a purple Lyn melynlyn yellow lake slate with and without a slurry.
I have years of experience honing Japanese chisels but am completely new to straights!

I'm sure one of the more experienced members concerning honing will be along to tell you for sure, but if my memory serves me, the King stones should be adequate for the early stages... Also, I know the Lyn Melynlyn has been discussed here before with positive stats, but where it falls in the progression, I don't remember.

One thing, if you haven't already read this, is that honing a straight razor is not really comparable to honing anything else. With that said, the learning curve for you may be easier than someone who has never honed anything before.

I think the purple yellow lake stone from Bethesda is a slow cutting 12k? So should be decent as a final stone?
Am I right in saying the aim with a straight when honing is not to get as far as creating a burr?

I have used the 1k often I have used the 6k king only on a rare occasion.. This gives a good solid Bevel setter and a Hone on the High side of Sharpening

The Slate will work how it wants to, you are going to have to come off the 6k and blend the edge into the fine slate

I really don't see any issues with your set up, it might just take a slight bit more time then a ladder with more rungs in it (Tighter progression smaller steps) to blend the stages together...


Burrs are bad

So would setting a bevel with the 1k then doing a pyramid with 6k/slate and finishing with a few laps on the slate going from thick slurry to water be a good plan?
And obviously honing with little pressure with the edge trailing as opposed to the jap chisel method

Originally Posted by reuben

So would setting a bevel with the 1k then doing a pyramid with 6k/slate and finishing with a few laps on the slate going from thick slurry to water be a good plan?
And obviously honing with little pressure with the edge trailing as opposed to the jap chisel method

No

Setting the bevel with the 1k = yes

After that you are going to have to mess with some methods to find the best for you, it would not be my first approach to pyramid between the 6k and the slate.. Not saying it won't work just saying that would not be my first plan of attack also slurry is a tool that takes some practice to learn but if you have used it in the past then heck ya go for it ...

Lynn and I and a few others have vids up on youtube about honing mine can be found very easily by using google and the words "gssixgun Honing" there are several dozen

Lynn's and mine also can be found right here on SRP by going to the Vid forum

I suggest watching at least a few and especially some of the "One Stone Honing" ones from both of us there are tons of hints and ideas in there...

Honing a razor is normally done with the edge leading and using an slight heel forward motion with an X stroke.. this is much easier to watch then to describe...

After you have some success at the process, then you can experiment with other more esoteric experimentation.. The vids are mostly done with the idea of the easiest path to success...

Right so I watched some vids and went for it on my stainless kropp eBay special....the blade was slightly chipped and smiled so bread knifed it back to a straight edge then went to town on the 1k, I tried with tape and found the 1k ate through it so I removed the tape and reset the bevel I was popping hairs along the blade so I jumped straight to the 6k king. After about 25 laps on the 6k I noticed the edge get mirror like so I left the stone dry out and the slurry break down to polish and gently did 10 final laps. Finally I stropped on leather only and surprisingly got a decent shave! Can't wait to try the LM purple!

In theory you could get away with using those 3 stones but you're going to need to do a heck of a lot of lap with both the 6k and the Lyn Melynlyn. Most multi stone honing progressions use 4 or 5 stones.

How many laps would you recommend?

If you got a decent shave off the 6K, it sounds like you did a good job I suggest you try the Llyn Melynllyn with a diluting slurry and see if the shave improves. If it does, you're one happy guy, if it doesn't, you'll probably need more work on the slurried LM. If it still doesn't improve, it's back to the 6K.