Thread: First "successful" hone

Well I have had my best job honing so far with a decent shave to follow.

When my razor was starting to pull on the 3rd pass at my chin and head, I put my razor to the hones. I would like to lay out my process for critique.

Materials: norton 4k/8k, Chinese 12k (c12k), shapton 16k glass, crox balsa strop, linen & latigo.

On on the norton I done a pyramid of:

5:1, 4:1, 3:1, 2:1, 1:1, 1:2, 1:3, 1:4, 1:5

TPT - no pass

repeat previous pyramid

TPT - pass but not at heel

repeat pyramid with focused gentle pressure on heel

TPT - pass
HHT - no pass
Shave - no pass (no strop before performing - forgot)

repeat pyramid but added at the end:
1:6, 1:7, 1:10

TPT - pass
HHT - no pass
Shave - I thought was smooth; no pull (remembered to strop - leather only)

so I tried to butter it up:

pyramid between the 8k and c12k:
10:15, 8:30 5:60, 3:60, 1:60

pyramid between c12k and shapton 16k:
60:1, 30:2, 15:3, 1:4, 1:5, 1:8, 1:10, 1:15

crox - 25 laps

linen and latigo - 50 laps each

shave was decent. Not the best but better than what it was shaving. Less nicks (only 2 weepers), and less irritation. I do a full hot shower prep, and a full face and head 3 pass. It still catches a little on the head and chin but no where near like it was. And was still between a BBS and DFS when I was finished.

So so with all that any recomendations and critiques?

as a side note I noticed I have to work on my pressure of the blade to the hone. I was noticing I was putting a little more than blade weight on the hones. But that will come with practice.

But it I did think it was funny that the HHT but the shave test passed after I stropped.

No expert but I would concentrate more on the lower stones.
THAT is where you get your bevel.
Everything else is just "polishing"

With the mention of bevel setting, I've been looking into getting a 1k instead of using my 4k which I know is fine but I think I have been having trouble getting it set on it. Does anyone have a recommendation. I've been looking at the norton, shapton glass, or the nanawa. I'm leaning towards the shapton. But what do y'all think or do you have other options that you think would be a better options.

Naniwa is what is most recommended form what I have researched.
Have one myself and it is GREAT!
Fast cutter.

There are at least two series of Naniwa hones. At the 1k level, the naniwa chosera is a better performer than the superstone. They both work well, but the superstone loads up much more quickly and so needs more frequent refreshing to remove swarf to restore its cutting capacity.