Thread: Relevance of stiction to 1st time honers and refreshing edge

I am feeling for the smoothness as the lap count grows. Stiction means I have to clean my hone or lap it some depending on how hard it is.

When it comes to hones I know enough to be dangerous but I am also relying less and less on anything but feel and the loupe. Feeling something in a refresh takes some serious senses.

There that should help start something :<0)

I agree with most of this. I'm looking to feel the slurry "smooth out", usually starts at about 25 strokes on finishers I have, and I usually give it a bit more. I'm also looking to NOT feel any roughness, chattering, "growling" or that one part of the stroke/blade feels different from another. Such misbehavior means the bevel/spine or parts thereof are not lapped flat to the hone and I'm not getting the best edge - though it might or might not shave O.K.

For example, I have razors that either by manufacture or more likely angled honing over the years, have spines that are thicker at the heel than further up the spine. if you hold such a blade 90 degrees to the stone, the stroke will not feel smooth and you can frequently observe a secondary bevel under hand magnification. You won't get the best edge under these conditions.

I look for stiction when bringing an edge up from mid-grits. To me, that is another sign that the bevel/spine is mated perfectly with the hone. I look for it less refreshing because I use much lighter slurry, strokes, etc.

When refreshing, I usually just do that by rote counting strokes. I've done it enough that if the edge is good and just needs a light refresh, there's no need to look for the signs I'd look for coming up from a bevel set/midgrit.

Cheers, Steve

Originally Posted by 10Pups

I am feeling for the smoothness as the lap count grows. Stiction means I have to clean my hone or lap it some depending on how hard it is.

When it comes to hones I know enough to be dangerous but I am also relying less and less on anything but feel and the loupe. Feeling something in a refresh takes some serious senses.

There that should help start something :<0)

Some stones are more prone to stiction than others, my Norton 8k can have that sometime, but my C12k REALLY has it.

As was said, depends on the stone and the size of the razor and spine. More steel on the hone will increase this. I use jnats and finish with slurry, I dont look for it and when I do find it, it usually means somethings amiss. My feedback is more a smooth feeling slurry that is really broken down. I also watch the slurry ride up on the blade, when this stops improving and the slurry is where I want it Im done. Taped spines will also have an effect here as less steel is on the stone.

Thanks for the pointers guys, have been reading a bit about slurry and how some prefer this finish from plain water. Of course with slurry there is no stiction so it goes to reason. Appreciate the input and look forward to experimenting with some of the suggestions.

You will note stiiction with slurry. It's a sign the slurry is breaking down and polishing.

Cheers, Steve

Originally Posted by Steve56

You will note stiiction with slurry. It's a sign the slurry is breaking down and polishing.

Cheers, Steve

Yes, definitely. Although to me, it means the slurry is no longer buffering the blade from the base stone.