Thread: How much honing?

Merovian,

Sounds like we're getting closer. Try what Alan suggested a few times. If you're not able to make enough improvement that way, you might want to go back and do a few more pyramids starting at 10 or 5 on the 4K.

For me the biggest breakthrough was realizing how sharp the 4K could get the razor. In my mind the 4K establishes the sharpness and the 8K refines it. When I try to jump ahead to a higher grit before I've maxed out the previous one I get into trouble.

If you're finding that your hair works for the HHT, try to get the same response from the hair all along the blade.

Could you tell us more about the razor? What shape is the blade, and what shape is the edge? Curved edges are harder to hone, I've found, although I tend to prefer them for shaving.

Let us know how you're progressing. It sounds like you're doing really well.

Josh

Here's an image of the blade before I get to work on it tonight.

Nice pic, yea try what Alan said.

So I've gone and made another 50 or so passes on the 8k side of the hone, then I did another pyramid starting at 20, then another 20 or so passes on the 8k, after each of these three things I committed tests. In all cases I experienced no real improvement in the following tests:

HHT: maybe I'm doing this all wrong, but I kind of glide a hair across the edge of the razor and see if it cuts. I cannot get the hair to cut unless I drag the hair lengthwise along the edge and sometime the hair catches and cuts, and sometimes it does nothing but bend. IF I draw the hair AT the edge (or the edge at the hair as if, i dunno, shaving it) then nothing at all happens, not even any catching. Just bent hair.

Arm hairs: I have a bunch of ridiculous bald patches on my forearms now, but really they took some doing -- at no time has the blade simply passed through the hairs as if passing through air, leaving a trail of destruction and baldness. Usually if I make short choppy strokes and use pretty much no mercy with my blade hand, I can shave my arm. No skin irritation, but I feel each hair getting cut. Never is it so effortless that it seems accidental (which is what most descriptions of this test would make it seem -- whoops! shaved!)

So, either my blade is somehow unhonable (I made that word up, and also this seems very unlikely) or I am somehow entirely unable to manage a hone which would be possible but pretty depressing. I've been mirroring Lynn's moves on the DVD -- I've turned the sound up so I could HEAR him hone, and made sure my honing SOUNDs like his honing. Perhaps I'm using too little pressure? Folks here make it seem impossible to use too -little- pressure so long as blade meets stone at some point, but I notice I have much less steel debris on my hone during honing than is clearly visible as Lynn hones on the DVD. And yet, if I use what I might consider excessive pressure, I still don't get that much debris.

ARGH!

Have you tried using the thumb pad test at all. I find that the HHT is not a very good test. This is mainly because it is highly dependent on the hair being used. Some guys talk about doing it right off the 4000, but my hair is so fine that the razor has to be damn sharp before it will pass this test. The arm hair test is better, but as your said it takes effort.

Ok back to the thumb pad test. This test is easier to do, but takes a light touch or you can cut your self bad. Read this thread if haven't already.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/showt...ighlight=thumb

After reading this post, I had a clear vision of the thumb pad test. When I first went to hone, I would use this test after each pyramid to gage my improvement. At first it seemed like the blade just got duller. But the sharpness started to build back up after.

As I started to notice it getting sharper and sharper, I started doing the test more frequently. I would stop between sections on my pyramid to check and finally between individual passes. I could instantly tell if I had developed a wire edge, as the razor was duller than before the previous couple of passes.

I suggest you start using this test frequently if you haven't already. You can gage the sharpness as you go. Trial and error seems to be a big part of learning this I'm afraid. You will get it though. Hundreds have come before you and hundreds will come after you, so don't get too discouraged over it.

Matt

Feels pretty dull, actually -- Looks like I gotta hone some more

Sorry for the ranting. It's just that I read posts like

"Holy crap! Don't hone TOO much! One or two passes is all it takes!"

or

"I got this ebay special and it was all beat up, so I laid it next to my hone for a few seconds (only an inch away! I know! I almost overdid it!) and man, it was so sharp that I accidentally split, like, 19 atoms just from looking at it too hard!"

(note these are slight exaggerations)

So when I'm here for a total of three hours at my hone (over the course of a week -- not one sitting) I feel like I'm doing something terribly wrong.

I'll get over it

Originally Posted by Merovian

..
"Holy crap! Don't hone TOO much! One or two passes is all it takes!"

or

"I got this ebay special and it was all beat up, so I laid it next to my hone for a few seconds (only an inch away! I know! I almost overdid it!) and man, it was so sharp that I accidentally split, like, 19 atoms just from looking at it too hard!"

(note these are slight exaggerations)

...

LOL!! This is predominantly a male pastime, after all. You should expect a little swagger every now and then ...

But look on the bright side - if you wire-edge you at least know that somewhere along the line it *was* getting sharp...

I think you're in good hands with these guys - I haven't seen them lose one yet. Hang in there. Patience is a virtue, remember.

Good luck.

James.