Thread: What am I doing wrong?

So many factors are at play when honing a razor to shave ready. Watching many videos can sometimes solve a singular issue. If it is possible to find an experienced honer to sit with, then that would be the way to go. If this option is not in the cards, then walk away from the stones for a day or two,,,,then start fresh from the beginning,,,with a progression of stones available & lapped,,connect with a mentor here who can set aside some time one night & coordinate a session with you online step by step. This way there are two minds who can overcome obstacles when you reach them.

You've been here since April of 2012,,,so mentors will invest the effort & time with you.
Anything short of this, is just a guessing game as to what your honing problem is,,just my opinion.

Can you provide some history of the razor. Who set the bevel and did that person do the last finish on this razor. A talented honer can mask bevel issues with rolling X-strokes and deliver a workable edge. An inexperienced honer can take the same razor and have zero luck because the razor is not flat on the stone. Many folks on this forum could take the same blade and produce an amazing shave off of the existing bevel. You and I not so much. I had that happen on a razor I got off of ebay. It arrived HHT and smooth. But two months later when I tried to refresh the edge I got nothing but dull. Eventually I reset the bevel an was able to get it back to a desirable state. Also, 8k while capable of producing a nice shave for experienced honers might not give you and I the same result. I only recently got my JNat to get anywhere close to its' potential. This is not a craft learned over the weekend. It can take years to achieve the potential of the razor and the hone.

Based on your first post you said: "The razor was shave-able, but I felt like it just needed a touch up as it was very slightly pulling, and I saw it as an opportunity to practice my sharpening."

I see this as your 'glaring mistake' IMO. A blade that is shave ready BUT slightly pulling doesn't need a sharpening, but just needs a refresh only, i.e. either very lightly stropping on a pasted strop or some extra laps on the leather. If I have a blade that doesn't quite seem up to snuff, the first thing I'll do is maybe 100-150 laps on a leather strop. If that improves the edge your good to go or it will tell you that you need to 'very slightly refresh the blade' or that you need to go back to the hones because the edge has dulled.

The first step would be to go to the 8K and do maybe 5-10-15 'very, very' light and smooth laps. Re-strop on linen or pasted strop and then leather and do a test shave. If needed repeat the process until you have a nice smooth shave. That will usually fix the problem.

Having said all that...after taking it to your 4/8 and honed it improperly, it would appear that now you have to re-set the bevel by dropping down to a 1K and starting from the beginning.

If this is a challenge for you I would be happy to re-set the bevel and hone the blade up for you at no charge, or since you are in L.A. and I am in the O.C. perhaps we can arrange a time for you to come down my way and I can show you how to hone the blade using the tools that you have ... i.e. your Norton 4/8.

Whatever you decide...best of luck to you, and welcome to the wonderful world of straight razor maintenance!


WP34

Originally Posted by animalwithin

I'm not using X strokes as the hone width is enough the cover the entirety of the blade, thus all of the blade is being honed with normal up/down strokes. .

Bad idea,,,

Wolfpack, I'd definitely take you up on getting a honing session face to face, since we're both in California! Glen, I thought X-strokes were only for hones or strops that weren't wide enough to cover the entire blade?

Originally Posted by animalwithin

Glen, I thought X-strokes were only for hones or strops that weren't wide enough to cover the entire blade?

Unfortunately there are many posts that say just that...

The simple explanation is that most razors, hones and strops are not near perfectly straight, so that even a slight "Pattern" will help eliminate any problems. The most common problem that arises from straight up & down strokes while honing is a Frown

Note that I said pattern, there are different ones, and most anything that is not straight up and down will work, The "X" Pattern gets recommended the most because it has been demonstrated to work, and is posted on SR related things going back at least 150 years