Thread: Need some honing tips!

HI Pinklather,

I live in San Diego so if anyone out there would like to teach me a little I would be more than happy to learn.

Hi Christel,

I just put up some pics

Oh wow, now I hadn't expected that!

Very nice pair of razors there - both wedge grinds by the looks of it. Definitely don't breadknife the Packwood razor - those chips can be honed out without too much drama although it'll take extra time. The second one will take a bit longer than a full hollow due to the extra metal but not too long since they. Your coarsest stone is 4k so combined with the chunky mature of those razors, you can expect extra time required to hone them. Consider a 1k stone - it's not essential but they tend to be fairly cheap.

Gssixgun has a good video on youtube on how to hone smiling wedge razors - definitely worth a watch.

Also, because the packwood razor is smiled do I curve it when I hone it, and should I buff it out first and then hone?

Hi Birnando,

I posted a few pics...so let me know what you think? I still need to clean up the Packwood though. Should I buff it out first and then hone or hone and then buff?

Originally Posted by ksarti1986

Also, because the packwood razor is smiled do I curve it when I hone it, and should I buff it out first and then hone?

A good rule of thumb is to do all sanding, buffing, and cleaning prior to honing. Unless you want to hone it again, and or put fingers and parts at a greater risk.

I picked up a naniwa 1/3k combination stone from amazon of all places for £30 inc a holder so they can be had really cheap

For the smiling profile, aim to follow it while honing. You'll be doing a rolling x-stroke - Glen's video explains it far better than I am able to (He's also a vastly more experienced honer than I am). Since you'll be removing a fair amount of metal, check the blade every 10 strokes or so to make sure you're following the original line but if you're doing the rolling x-stroke you should be fine. When you get the chips removed and are back to clean metal again, use a sharpie marker on the edge to make sure the x-stroke is hitting all of the bevel as you make your way across the hone. I tend to use a layer of tape over the spine when I'm removing a lot of metal such as you will be doing. I'd be inclined to hone with tape throughout the process, especially since the spine stamp is very cool.

Yeah, the restoration work is better done before the honing - Be careful around the spine area and try not to sand it down , you preferably want that to stay the same shape that it currently is. Were I in your position, I'd try to start at higher grits such as 4k and see whether it gave the sort of polish I found acceptable but if you're looking for a higher shine, you'll need to go lower.

Did you have any luck, OP?

I received a John Heiffor wedge today that had a chip in the blade similar to that shown in your photo and honing it out didn't take nearly as long as I expected.

I have not started working on that one yet, but when I do I'll post up another pic.