Thread: Need Good Honing Advice

I need help! I've posted on my same problem before and I am still unsuccessful. I have a Dovo 6/8" and it needs rehoned. When it got dull I used the Naniwa 12000 to polish it up and I was pretty successful at it. Had just awesome shaves with it and my other razors doing that. But, the dovo was no longer responding to the Naniwa so I though I would take it back down to other stones. I thought the bevel needed reset so I took it down to a naniwa 1000. The reason I thought it needed reset because I have a really tough beard and the 12000 wasn't honing it anymore. I was probably wrong. Should I have not gone back to the 1000? I have a Norton 4000/8000, should I have gone to the 4000 instead? Well I reset the bevel and went to the 4000, 8000, and 12000. Ive done this sevel times and most times not even getting to the 12000. I think also its my technique. I think I keep lifting my arm. Im just not sure what it going on. Maybe I didn't even reset the bevel properly? Please help because I haven't shaved with a straight razor in a long while and Im going crazy because all my attempts at honing my razor are failed attempts.

Don't take this the wrong way however it sounds like you don't know what you are doing. You need to be able to evaluate the razor and decide what the issue is and take the appropriate action. You can't just throw things at the blade. Is it the bevel or not? What shape is the blade in? You might want to post some pics and you might want to send the thing out to get it honed meanwhile check out our reference material on honing.

See if there is a meet-up scheduled in your area & someone in the local help list in your area.
Try to find a member with honing skills to assist you in person.

It's very hard to say what you should or shouldn't have done without first having seen and evaluated the razor. A general rule of thumb is to try the least-impact options first and only move on to lower grits if they fail. However, at this stage that's immaterial really since you've already taken it to the 1K stone.

What needs to happen is that the bevel needs to be established/reestablished/fixed. Then, what I (and I think most others) tend to do is move up the stones progressively, at each stage evaluating the edge before moving on. So after the 1K I go to the 4K, then the 8K, then to whatever I have in the higher grits etc.

The main factor that influences a honer's success is the ability to know when the edge is ready to move on at each grit. Clearly for most people that involves gaining experience (though I suppose a select few may have an immediate knack for it, but I think those people are rare). And of course the only way to gain that experience is to jump in and tackle some razors (and to read up and learn).

So to me it sounds like you have the basic setup - 1K, 4/8k, 12K. Now you need to spend some time with them. Patience and persistence are important. It would be helpful to find someone who knows what they are doing to guide you if you can, but plenty of us learned solo so it's entirely possible to be self-taught. Just remember you cannot really damage a razor irreparably with hones unless you do something really extreme. The magic marker and taping the spine can be good friends at the bevel set stage while you learn.

Good luck.

James.

as mentioned above
definately use the tape & marker to confirm the bevel is set and getting honed evenly then do it for each grit to ensure no mistakes are being made this is the best way to track your progress i found, if you check with a loupe at each stage before progressing you should be able to work through it.
But in the mean time, send your favourite one out to get pro honed so you can use it & keep it as a bench mark for your own skills, do not strop before first use either.
my first few razors & still some finiky ones with geometry issues etc take me up to an hour for bevel set alone before I was happy satisfied completely to progress up the grits

Imagine TV stropping...and then do the opposite. Dont beat up your razor. Go back to the 1K and start again.

How far are you from Kansas City? You can get a lot of help there and I assuming that a Nebraska meet-up is not looming on the horizon!