Quote Originally Posted by Tripoli3 View Post
Anyone else do it this way?
The excerpt below is from the SRP Library, "Honing Alternative Aproaches" which is basically a PM sent to me by Randydance062449 in 2007. So yeah, some other people do it that way.

Honing - Alternative approaches - Straight Razor Place Library

"Checking the edge with an eye loupe or a microscope will reveal any micro chips or other problems present that you may not be able to see with the naked eye. Applying a black magic marker to the edge and then doing a couple of strokes on either side will show you if the edge is making contact with the hone for the length of the blade and on both sides. This will let you know if you need to alter the stroke to make complete contact with the edge to the hone. (see; Strokes for honing a razor) Once you have seen which stroke it is necessary to use wipe the marker off with a solvent appropriate for the purpose. Use what ever number of strokes it requires to get rid of the nicks and establish a bevel. This is the most time consuming portion of honing a razor, be patient and persistent.

The purpose of the 1000 grit is to remove nicks and straighten/shape an edge. For that you use your eyes and the Thumb Nail Test (TNT), not the Thumb Pad Test (TPT). (see; Sharpness tests explained) The edge should be free of nicks and the bevel should go all the way to the edge. If you are using a hand held microscope then the bevel will appear as one color, if there are two bevels, old and new, then the light reflects off the bevel at different angles and appears as two colors. The scratch pattern should also be uniform for both the length and width of the bevel. When you have that then move on to the 4000, but not before."