Thread: Honing "Feel"

A quick question, when moving up the stones after setting the bevel the razor feels like it starts to get sucked to the stone is this a good sign that the stone has done it's work or should the "feel" move to a smoother glide across the stone?

Both


A hollow grind razor getting "Sucked" down to the stone is a good sign but it is variable with the razor and the hone.. The feel of the steel on the hone however is a great indicator of where you are also at.. I don't mean how the razor moves I mean the actual feel of the bevel, if it feels smoother and smoother and less and less scratchy then you are really getting someplace with your honing

"The feel of the steel"....I like that, thanks Glen

If you want to get scientific on the issue :
when two surfaces are flat enough, particles from both surfaces tend to attract each other, pretty much the same way a Gecko can adhere ton any surface.

This is due to Van Der Waals forces, which work quite the same way as gravitation, but with a sligh variation. Instead of following the rule

Attraction = n*1/(distance*distance)
-> n/dist^2

they follow the rule
Attraction = n/dist^6

which means that the closer two particles are, the stronger it is, in a way dramatically more significant than gravity, and the farther they are, the weaker it is, and it gets very quickly very weak, much weaker than gravity.

Therefore, if your stone starts to "suck" your blade, it means that your edge is sufficiently flat for a majority of the particles to be very close to each other. Very good sign indeed, and no small feat

My inner chemist just smiled.

Originally Posted by Aggelos

If you want to get scientific on the issue :
when two surfaces are flat enough, particles from both surfaces tend to attract each other, pretty much the same way a Gecko can adhere ton any surface.

This is due to Van Der Waals forces, which work quite the same way as gravitation, but with a sligh variation. Instead of following the rule

Attraction = n*1/(distance*distance)
-> n/dist^2

they follow the rule
Attraction = n/dist^6

which means that the closer two particles are, the stronger it is, in a way dramatically more significant than gravity, and the farther they are, the weaker it is, and it gets very quickly very weak, much weaker than gravity.

Therefore, if your stone starts to "suck" your blade, it means that your edge is sufficiently flat for a majority of the particles to be very close to each other. Very good sign indeed, and no small feat

What did he say?

He said close counts!

Just waiting for somebody to figure it out

Actually. I think it's more likely air pressure. When the edge is so smooth. That air can't leak past and the surface tension of the water seals the ends then a slight vacum is created. When that happens atmospheric pressure literally pushes the blade onto the stone.

Funny, I thought my honing just sucked. Seriously, though, I have learned to feel for that slick, smooth feel as I'm close to the finishing stage. Most of the good honing videos stress that.