Help having problems honing

:confused: WELL, at 73 jumped into buying straight razors for a hobby.Well, the polishing went ok on the vintage razors,but the honing process is something else.I can get them sharp ,but not ready to shave which is a BIG difference.I have the stones 1000,2000/5000,6000,8,000,10,000.Some of the stones are Chinese and Japanese.some are stone the newer ones are ceramic from naniwa.No matter how I hone them they come out sharp but not shave ready:confused:.have watched you-tube honing but not much help. I have bought a few ready to shave razors and looking at them,its looks like someone made ONE pass with some tool and its ready to use:gaah:.Getting so frustrated do not know what I am doing wrong and the fact that I work so hard on them? I am missing it somewhere------------------HELP.

The most important part is to make sure you have a proper bevel set where the 2 edges meet perfectly. Do you have any type of magnification to make sure this is so?

Have you watched any of the video's we have on honing? Where are you? Maybe some member is nearby or maybe a meet is happening not too far away.

Ok are you saying edges from one side of blade to the other end,sorry no magnification.correction on the last statement,only a 2--3 inch magnification glass.I see where you are heading now.Now what ---by the numbers please.:hmmm:

I am in south texas.

I have just joined---1 hour ago.trying to find my way around , where are the videos please? I need a seeing-eye dog:thinking:

I'm meaning from either side of the blade...the 2 edges should meet in a V. If the bevel isn't fully set then any other stone progression is futile. If by numbers you mean the grit of the stone then you should start your bevel set on your 1K :)

Here's a good place to start...

Bevel-setting in theory and practice - Straight Razor Place Library

I go 1k till I can shave. It might not be comfortable but it should shave. Then you move on. It might be frustrating and take a while but in reality it takes less time because you get it done right the first time. Like they say slow is smooth, smooth is fast. Take your time, relax and meditate on it. If you start to get frustrated stop and pick up the next day. Don't think of it as a job or something that you have to do. I will pour a nice glass of beer or scotch (my new interest) and watch some TV and hone. But honestly we have all felt your pain. I have a wedge that has been driving me nuts for like 2 months just honing it when I feel like I've built up some patience to deal with it. Any ways happy honing hope this helped a little

No, wonder I having problems no one has mention this to me its all greek----------"two edges meeting in a V":thinking: maybe you need to go a little deeper on this subject as many you-tube videos as I have seen have never heard of this.Sure could use some lessons.My barber sure has not helped any maybe I need to send him to you also:rofl2:

yep, I am about to loose it the tips of my fingers are trying to hid from me:rofl2: Have been buffing away at some blades, cannot use gloves other wise you do not feel the heat of the blade and ruin it.
THANK YOU GUYS FOR ALL THE HELP.Maybe I will have some numbs left off my fingers:boohoo:

Have the stones been lapped (trued so they're flat)? If not, start with that, can't get a straight blade straight on a wonky surface. Wet/Dry sandpaper (325 grit) on a granite tile or counter top or even a pane of glass works. Pour some water on the surface you're going to use and simply stick the paper on the surface, water tension will hold it there. With a pencil, draw a grid pattern on the stone and use a circular motion to run the stone over the sandpaper until the grid has disappeared. Then do it again to make sure the slurry (water mixed with particulate from stone) wasn't the reason the grid disappeared. This may take some time, unfortunately, depending on the stone.

Once the stones are ready and you're ready to sit down for a while, you can start honing. I place the stones so that the razor will be going away from me and coming back towards me, not side to side. Personally, I like to use one hand to hone. you can use 2 but I find it difficult to stay consistent with pressure along the blade. Set the blade on the stone with the blade facing away from you and move the blade across the stone making sure to not lift the spine off the stone. The spine is made to keep the same angle all the time. Do the reverse to pull the blade back towards you.

You're going to need to set the bevel on the razor's edge on the 1k stone first. If you look down the length of the blade, both sides of the blade come to a V at the edge. In essence, a vintage razor does not have a nice V bevel already, it is more like \_/. You need to hone it until it's a V. If you don't have any magnification, you can try to shave some arm hairs off with the edge. If you can't take arm hairs off, keep honing. Higher grit stones will simply make the edge you set on the 1k stone smoother so there's no point in going to other stones if the edge isn't proper.

I'm sure others have more to offer, this is what I have picked up from this site and from having honed all of my vintage blades.

Good luck!

find a member in your area , I believe you said south texas (should put your location in profile), there are guys in your area who will help. just do a search ,upper right corner ,, that's going to be your best bet or do like I do . we have some of the finest "honemeisters" around that you can send your blade to . happy hunting tc

Welcome to SRP

For local help, look in two places. First the Library's Local Help page. You will find that shooter74743 is listed for Texas, you can PM him to discus local help. Second search the member list for your location in various ways. That link will give you the results for Texas sorted by most posts. You may get lucky and have someone very close.

If you haven't learned to shave with a straight razor trying to learn to lather, shave, and hone all at once can triple your learning curve, it certainly did mine. If you don't have the other skills consider holding off on learning to hone. No mater what path you take get at least one razor honed by a pro, Look in Classifieds > Member Services. Use the pro honed blade as a bench mark for your honing.

Jonathan

thank you will check it out.:o

So far I am doing much better with the 1000 as a starter,but when I get to the end of using the stones 1000------------10 & 12,000,its sharp but not shave ready?So where do I go from here, should go to what stone again?Have a mag. glass so now I have a good bevel.I had a razor which still had flea bites on the blade went back to 5000 and 6000 and finish again,it was ok,but not shave ready.:hmmm:

Been there done that. I would think that you have still not set the bevel on the 1000. How are you testing to see if you've got there with the bevel? The rest of the hones should just be refining the edge.

Well, need to buy a new razor I have enough vintage ones.Whats the best all around sharpest blade ,not to expensive besides the devo which is said not to come ready shave.There are French,japanese,Spanish not for sure how many german razors brands.Still have to find one soon.As a beginner probably need a 5/8 0r 6/8 right?kind of leaning towards the 6/8:idea:

I would look at the classifieds here, you don't really "need" a new razor just one to compare your edge to, most will come shave ready. If you have to have a new razor I would look at straight razor designs, the razor will come shave ready.
Have you done the Thumb nail test off the 1k? the edge should feel like it's sticking to your nail the whole length of the edge before moving up to your 4 or 5k and it should pop hairs.

Semper,
Your all over the place... Relax take a deep breath you will be fine.. Honing isn't rocket science.. It takes time and patience a lot of reading a lot of learning and a lot of mistakes.. You will get there .. Look around this site,ask questions before you know it you'll be getting great edges.. You don't need a new blade there are plenty of great vintage blades that you!will get fantastic results from.. If u really want a new blade.look in the direction of revisior or ralf aust.. Both well made blades IMO.. When I started honing I would set the bevel and then do the pyrAmid style of honing because it's by the numbers and it works,. As I progressed I'm now doing lprogresive honing and learning every step of the way and getting. Great results.. Excuse the spelling.. On my phone.. Find a mentor and try to attend meet ups you,will learn a lot.. Btw do you have a strop??

Sorry, trying to get to learn from everyone and its coming together bid by bid.I guess time will tell.Thanks ----william

Your absolute best bet is to get together with an experienced person. If you were in Minnesota I would invite you to my home and then we would hone razors til you had it down pat.
Some 1 on 1 time shortens your learning curve a whole lot.

I would like to try to help you find someone in your area of Texas. What major city are you close to? Dallas, Houston, Austin, etc ?

You've written that the razor is sharp but not shave ready. How did you assess it? Did you try to shave with it?

l live in Victoria,texas. houston is 125 miles away,san Antonio 120 miles,austin 122 miles.So its a little far to go.It seems to be getting bette.I just got my new 1000k ninawa hard wet stone and I am getting a better bevel.Problem is that as I go through the other stones 5000,6000,8000,10,000 ,its sharp but not ready to shave.:banghead:

I am not a shaver yet ,but the blade gets hung up real quick in my medium beard if you put to much pressure on blade oooops there went my face:dropjaw:It could be the steel in the blade,just have to try out several blades.Question,is there any advantages using a more hollow blade?Thank you.---William.

I think Lynn wrote a great post/thread about honing and then shaving off of a 1k stone. That was a great intro that really helped me understand what a bevel set was and how you knew you'd achieved a proper set. It might help semperfi6141 but I can't find it. Anyone?

Also, semperfi6141, if you're not already handy with a strop and repeatedly getting a clean shave off a known shave-ready blade, honing is like putting a rickety cart in front of a very stubborn mule.

This one is not by lynn but still a good read, Beginners, The 1k shave

Jonathan