Thread: How I hone and set my edge (a cheaters guide to setting the edge)

Ok, first and foremost I am not a pro or experienced in any way at honing. I've only been honing my razors for about 6 months at this point. I have had success in being able to make all my own razors shave ready but have struggled at times with one razor but not the next. I knew all along that the reason or issue I was having was a properly set bevel. I started off learning the basics using a Norton 4k/8k and had recently added into the mix a 1k Norton and 12k Superstone. I had a piece of glass cut the size of a sheet of sanding paper for lapping my stones. I fold up a couple towels in the sink and set the glass on these so that I can run water over it while I lap. Been happy with the results and cost effective to boot.

Back to the point of this post, bevel setting. I have about 15 razors currently all sourced from my local antique shops. Up until now I had been following what I had seen in the videos, trying to glean as much information from them as I could. The pro's will talk about the heel not being set.. and giving a few more strokes .. bam they are done and are popping hairs. All of us who are learning have watched these and wondered why our first razor honing did not go like theirs did!

What I learned is that I can't do this without a jewelers loop. I added a loop into my bag of tricks but the problem is that I don't have the eye or experience to tell when the bevel is set correctly. None of us noobs probably do. My trick that I stumbled upon is to do a quick progression up and work the blade on the higher grits while I am setting the bevel.

What this does is polishes the bevel only on the areas that are set correctly. So when I look at the edge in a loop, I see the edge being polished about 75% of the way but scratches neat the tip, I know that I have to work that area. Or I will find that most the blade polishes up but one side of the heel is not polished. I now know exactly what part of the blade I need to concentrate on to get the bevel set. I'll work that area on the 1k. Do a quick progression to polish the edge and then look at it with the loop to see if there are any areas that are not 100% correct.

I'm sure I'm not the first to do this but had not seen it described in any of the videos I had watched. This quick progression to a polished edge to find my flaws has really helped me. The pro's know by the feel of the draw on the stone or a quck glance at the edge under magnification. I needed to make it a little more obvious for my eye and this seems to do the trick.

Anyone else do it this way? If you are new to honing, get a loop and try it. Hope it helps someone else starting off.

G

Interesting read & I'm happy that you have been able to get your razors shave ready.

But,,,,

After spending the last four years learning on SRP & seeing many methods of honing here, I cannot advocate that anyone pursue this method of "bevel setting".

I have the feeling, since many of your razors came from antique stores, that the razors had many honing obsticles inherent in them,,,bad spines do to many reasons, chips, etc,,,, this probably led to your "experimenting" on bevel setting. Our library section gives clear advice on bevel setting, equipment to have on hand & links to discussions involving the setting of bevels & last but not least, the ability to open a thread & showcase your problem razor.

My opinion, the bevel should be set in it's entirety from the beginning,,,before moving up the ladder of grits. if your bevel is set from the beginning, then there will not be the problems at the heal & toe that you are finding,,thus sending you back down the hones to repair "sections" at a time. I can see this reaction/method becoming a nightmare for new honers & at the very least leading to an uneven , inconsistent edge. This resulting in a less than desirable shave, frustration, dissatisfaction & a return to another method of shaving.

I am by no means an expert on anything in life,,,so don't take this post personal,,,if your method works for you & your happy then that's all that matters.

It sounds like a longer way of performing a sharpie test. Apply sharpie marker to the edge of the blade, give it a few laps on the stone and see where it has been ground off by the stone. Give it a whirl.

Thanks. I will give this a try. I use sharpies in reloading to check seating depths (to see if a bullet is engaging the lands in the barrel), but never thought about using it to see where your hone is missing the edges of your razor.

Originally Posted by MattCB

It sounds like a longer way of performing a sharpie test. Apply sharpie marker to the edge of the blade, give it a few laps on the stone and see where it has been ground off by the stone. Give it a whirl.

You guys drive me nutz with all the hoops you jump thru to set bevels.
Is all very simple,takes 10 secs with this nifty little device,got mine at the county fair,$1.99.

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

You guys drive me nutz with all the hoops you jump thru to set bevels.
Is all very simple,takes 10 secs with this nifty little device,got mine at the county fair,$1.99.

Wow! Say goodbye to sharpies and tape for good. Now you gotta find a set that goes up to 12k lol

That picture made my teeth hurt...

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

You guys drive me nutz with all the hoops you jump thru to set bevels.
Is all very simple,takes 10 secs with this nifty little device,got mine at the county fair,$1.99.

I wouldn't put my Wade & Butcher through that contraption.

Originally Posted by WetShaveObsession

I know what this is. I have one, actully I have a few. This is a good opportunity for mme to learn. Isnt the purpose of setting the bevel not only to ensure that both sides of the razor meet at a center point but that threy also do so at the proper angle? Im not sure how to do that with this.

They need to make a sarcasm font at some point lol

I occasionally use a loupe on a blade (usually a gouge, not a SR) to see what is going on with it when it doesn't "sound right" on the hone. You can learn a lot about your honing style doing it. Interpreting what you see is a whole other problem. I usually use the magic marker test first, though.
I do know honers that will sit and pour over the bevel with a microscope and do touch ups under the microscope. Maybe their blade cuts 1% better than mine, but is the time to achieve that 1% worth it? They think so, I do not.
After a few hundred hone sessions, you will start to know when the bevel is set by the sound and feel of the blade on the stone. Until then, I'd say do whatever you want/have to do to get the shave you want.