Thread: Uneven sharpness after honing

So my honing set-up consists of a Norton 4k/8k and a Naniwa 12k. I lap and hone about every two months.
Now when i hone i use an X-pattern, I've seen that's how its done from Lynn's videos and other instructional material. However, and I thought this would happen, the head of my blade is sharper than the foot of my blade. Not too significantly, but noticeably. This make total sense though, the head of the blade is basically on the stone twice as long as the foot; so of course its sharper.
Is this normal?
If not, should I not do the x-pattern?
Should I want the head sharper?

Do you hone with one hand or two? There is some unevenness going on which is why you are getting that result. Possibly too much pressure on the toe end of the razor. This assumes the razor and spine is straight and the razor configuration is straightforward. if you have big smiles and smiley spines you may have to alter the stroke.

All I can say is, don't feel like the Lone Ranger. Uneven sharpness is a common obstacle that we all have to work on. Practice, practice, practice. Nothing wrong with the X stroke. Circles are also good, maybe better in the right hands, but the X stroke is safer when you're starting out ...... IMHO.

I can see where you are coming from when you talk about the toe being on the hone for longer than the heel - but, in reality, sharpness is achieved when both sides of the bevel meet, therefore your theory is incorrect in practice, because if the bevel is meeting, then the blade should be as sharp at the heel as it is at the toe.

If your edge cannot cut arm hair along its length, then the bevel is not set.

Yep your problem is in your bevel set like UKRob said. It will take some time with a 4k but it has to work there before you go on to the 8k.
Do you have a lupe ? Should be required you show proof of purchase (lupe) before you can even buy a hone :<0)
Complete hone every 2 months is a lot. The 12k refresh should be all you need every 6 months to a year.
It sounds to me like you jumped in head first which is okay. You are just trying to learn a whole bunch at once. Am I wrong ?

TBS & Jimmy tell ya right. The reason I struggle with it is a handicap - sorta like in golf. My handicap is my stroke.

You don't mention if this is touching up a known good blade, a good blade w/ sound bevel that needs freshening, or if you're resurrecting a fleabay 'find'. (I won, I won, I won). If you're working any restoration issues, I'd be checking the bevel w/ a magic marker - to see if the bevel is truly set, and if your stroke removes the marker along the whole length of the bevel using no pressure (like UKRob says). If its a known sound blade - is the water undercut & flowing up the blade face all along the edge?

'Sounds like maybe the heel is not getting consistent contact. One vendor of premium new blades offered honing, and after 1 wk, the heel was tugging hard. He was consistent at it - such that when I bought one of the same brand only slightly used - I shaved w/ it and asked the seller if he got it from was
So & So and if he had So & So hone it. After a while the attributes of an edge can be recognized.

I struggle more to keep the toe as sharp as the heel. It makes me bird-dog the water flow at the toe.

As the much missed Holly4pirating said: 200 blades from now, alot of these issues will go away.

Post some photos so we can better advise you. You seem to have a lot of different honing issues, in several post.

Is this the same razor Cudarunner offered to hone for you?

It does sound like a common novice honing issue, too much and unequal pressure, and an un-set bevel.

Originally Posted by Warchild281

This make total sense though, the head of the blade is basically on the stone twice as long as the foot; so of course its sharper.

I've watched several very experienced people using the X stroke and made similar comments. The last time was at the Kansas City meet. The person to whom I made the comment to said "This is the age old argument that comes up over and over. How can the heel get sharp if it is off the stone so much of the time?" To which I replied "Well, I'm carrying on the tradition then". The explanation that I received from the people I've asked was not very satisfying to me, so I did a lot of thinking about it on my own. It makes perfect sense to me now and I use X strokes almost exclusively. Done correctly the whole blade gets sharp.

A little trick for longer heel contact is with heel leading strokes move half way down the hone before starting the x portion. It does sound like you really need to work that at 4 k. Once there on the 4k standard x strokes should be fine

From the original description, I'll assume the OP is using a wide stone on a bench with two hands. If so, then maybe it might be time to switch to a one-handed approach, gripping the shank from side to side with a diagonal bias towards the edge, rather than from top to bottom using the roll flip. That way, the thumb and forefinger are naturally exerting more pressure on the heel area from the start, which diminishes as it reaches the toe in a X-stroke or diagonal motion. The result perhaps being a default rolling-X stroke, it might help to even things out.