Using Magic Marker as a honing guide ?!?!?

Back in the day when I was a mere lad and working as an apprentice in a machine shop there was an old guy who set up the filing, grinding, and polishing jobs for me to do each day....

He'd mark up the pieces of metal in different ways with the basic instruction...

"Keep (grinding/filing/polishing) on working at it until the magic marker is all gone."

When I graduated to more sophisticate EQ like a lathes, milling machines, grinders, & lapping machines etc... I got more or less the same instructions, but the foreman would mark out the work with a special blue or red machinst's dye and a carbide scribe...

Anyway, I sort of dimly recall that was also a good technique for marking out bevels on cutting edges.

I'm sure you guys have already been doing this for a long time, but for my sake...

Could someone please explain exactly how that procedure works when honing a Str8 edge razor.

Thanks in advance,

Tony

Run a marker along the bevel. When you hone the marker should be removed from all the bevel, right up to the edge. I align the body of the marker perpendicular to the length of the razor, with the tip resting on the bevel and run it along.

You can also use this method on kitchen knives.

A related idea, is marking a pencil grid on your stone before lapping it, to ensure that it is a plane surface. You could colour the whole thing or use marker, but a penicl is easier on a hone.

That about says it, although I'd add that it's OK if the bevel isn't 100 percent even all along the blade. But the marker has to come off all along the edge.

This is a great technique to use if you find that one part of the blade just won't get sharp. Usually the toe or heel isn't hitting the hone, or the blade has a slight warp that keeps the middle of one face from hitting the hone. You can adjust your stroke until you find you're wearing off the marker evenly.

I've started doing this test automatically whenever I start honing a new blade. It can save a lot of time if it points out a problem early on.

Josh