Thread: New to honing

It depends entirely on what other hones you have. You have only mentioned a mystery 1k hone and a Swaty. If that is all you have, then your options are a little more limited. If you did in fact get closer to cutting the bevel with your Swaty than you did with the 1k, then you need to assess whether or not your bevel is fully set. Draw the blade lengthwise along your thumb-nail for the thumb-nail test (TNT) and see if you note any changes in the drag along the length of the blade. Chips/dings in the edge will interrupt the smooth drag. Do the thumb-pad test (TPT) by lightly drawing across and along (remember I just said lightly) the blade. There should be a uniform bite into the pad along the entire length of the blade. Depending on the nature of your arm hair, you might (and might not) be able to shave the hair at this stage with a properly set bevel. If you think you are close, then I would go back to the 1k and spend some more time on that. As you proceed, use less and less pressure. This should help smooth out the rough edge from the Swaty.

Because you said you made progress on the Swaty in a few minutes, I am assuming that you used pressure to accomplish that. Also, did you use it dry, with water, or with lather? Because of the non-porous nature of the hone's surface, water tends to bead and get pushed off quickly. You can overcome this by adding just a little soap, detergent, or lather residue to the water. You don't want shaving lather thickness, just enough of something to break the surface tension of the water so that it forms a uniform layer on the hone.

Anyway, after the no pressure 1k honing, I would go back to the Swaty and do 10-15 no pressure strokes and then stop and strop and shave test. If it doesn't shave, pick up the hone and do another 10-15 and repeat the process as needed. Once you get a decent shave, drop the stroke count down to 4-6 strokes whenever you notice a diminishment in the quality of the shave.

If you do have other hones, then use THEM and leave the Swaty for the touch ups!

Originally Posted by Utopian

For the first 5 years or so before finding SRP and the joys of a "few" additional hones, I only had a Swaty and a Carborundum 102 for honing. It took me hours to get a shaveable edge because I never imagined using the pressure that I use to set a bevel now. I think most people who only use a barber hone for maintenance would be shocked at just how aggressive they can be.

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DITTO: For many years, all I had was a 3 line Swaty and a Carborundum 118S. Many rough shaves. Thank God for modern times and the web.

Norton 4/8...


Search the term JaNorton, find a huge wealth of info and Vids about using ONLY the Norton 4/8, there will be info from Beginners and Pros, all using only the Norton 4/8 for an entire month...

Set the unknown and the Swaty aside...

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Set the unknown and the Swaty aside...

If he's got a Norton 4/8, I absolutely completely agree!

Originally Posted by hillbillyhession

I was trying to set the bevel. I have an unknown 1k, Norton 4/8 and a swatty 3line. For some reason once I used the swatty it just came together rather quickly. Since I am just starting with honing I am trying to figure what made the difference.

That was what I read anyway Ron, but I didn't see where it was used

I'm a moron. I completely missed that and made everything more complicated.

Mr. Utopian,

I ,myself am still a little confused about the (TnT) test. Help me out here, when you gently take the razor and place the blade on
the large thumbnail vertically and draw the blade over the nail at vertical, is it suppose to just start to cut into the nail ?
mhw

Here's some reading for you on razor sharpness tests. Sharpness tests explained - Straight Razor Place Library

Originally Posted by Utopian

I'm a moron. I completely missed that and made everything more complicated.

HA !!!! Far from it my friend


@ the OP

this is the thread

http://straightrazorpalace.com/honin...on-2012-a.html


In there you will find all the answers you seek, along with several vids in those vids I am pretty sure you will see not only the TNT displayed and explained but many other sharp tests..

That was a good re-read. Good post.

The following phrase is profound and noteworthy:

"The key to this test is to calibrate it so that one can interpret the results for it to be a meaningful tool in the honing process."