Thread: Generic question

A Benchmark for Newbees.

Hi all, new/old guy here with a question that might be helpful for other newbees too. First, I have, and am still, reading forums and posts, furiously, so I don't ask out of laziness.Heck, I'm still reading about beer, and Moonshine. Anyway, Here's what I have at this point.
600/1k syn. waterstone Taidea
2k/5k syn.waterstone "
12(?)k cnat from the Polish guy
Harbor Freight diamond hone of indeterminant grit.
A fictitious, absolutely middle of the road straight razor, with a 1/32 chip in the middle.
I breadknife it on the diamond thing, completely flat.
Now, given no stupid mistakes, nor high level of expertise, should, say, 100 strokes on each stone be adequate to produce a set bevel, and a good shaving edge?
I ask this to help me interpret what I see with the microscope.
GSS, anyone, want to take the time? Thanks, Howard, in Nm. high desert.

It all depends how much you took off to get rid of the chip. It could take 50 or it could take 200. You will have to keep checking. Not only look at the bevel from the side but look at the edge straight on to see if the bevels meet. I would also suggest a layer of tape on the spine to avoid excessive hone wear. Good luck.

The first mistake was breadknifing it completely flat on the edge. A better method is to do circles/Xstrokes with the spine at say a 10 or 20 degree angle off of the plate or hone. When the chip is gone or almost gone, go to a layer of tape and lay the spine down on the hone. IME it is hard to predict how long it will take to restore a bevel and go to shave ready. Depends on how much metal you have to remove. Doable but you'll have to be patient and persistent.

100 might be a bit of an overkill. Do it in stages of 20 or 30 at a time keeping track of your progress. Each razor is different in how it will react to a hone. By the way, I agree with Jimmy that bread knifing was a mistake.

I guess I neither agree nor disagree. I've come to use a combination of breadknifing and doing strokes with the spine raised to remove a substantial chip.

As far as honing goes.... You may never find an exact number. To go from breadknifed flat to bevel set is going to take a bit of time and effort. I don't think 100 strokes is unlikely for the bevel set maybe even more. It really depends on the hardness of the steel and the speed at which your stones cut.

Another note going from 5k to c12k is gonna be a lot more than 100 strokes. Those c12k are sloooow stones. Doable???? Definitely!!!! Lots of patience will be key

Were it me I would tape the spine get the bevel close on the 600 retake and really dial the bevel on the 1k. Then move to the 5k then stretch my arms and legs put on some tunes and spend an hour on the phig. Lol

Originally Posted by howardgf

Now, given no stupid mistakes, nor high level of expertise, should, say, 100 strokes on each stone be adequate to produce a set bevel, and a good shaving edge? .

When it comes to honing, try to think in terms of when rather than how much. It would be great to think that a number of strokes will do the job but its really not a matter of how many. What you have to learn is when its time to move on, when the bevel is set, and when the edge is shave ready. This is important because too many strokes can be a problem just as too few. Once you learn what you are trying to achieve with each step, you'll be better qualified to determine when you've reached your goal.