Thread: a not to sharp question

Yup, I do the angling thing too. As I get to the final strokes on the hone I may wind up close to 75 degrees or so. I do the same thing with the Arkansas and Shapton hones - the translucent arkansas does beautifully with a high angle on the hone and a very slow (1/2" per sec) stroke. Can't do the tilty thing with a puddle or slurry hone unfortunately. At least not without making a mess.

Learn to hone? It took me a long time to both develop the "feel" of honing and to learn the various techniques that can be used on the different razors. Learning how to evaluate an edge before I started honing and then selecting the most effective tools was a big step for me. YMMV.

I'm still learning.

I was able to refresh a close edge imediately. It took me a few weeks to get decent enough to put an edge on a dull razor, and a few months to get good at setting a bevel.

X

I use the same technique with barber hones, and it works wonders. Tilting the hone also makes it easier to adjust to blades that are less than straight--like smiling blades.

Josh

Sure - one more vote for angling the hone. I do this with even with my Escher and the slurry runs a bit...

I find it's just too unnatural to hold the hone otherwise (horizontal) in my hand

Cheers
Ivo

Well, I can't just say we're going off topic and be nice, because I have to have 10 characters to make a stinking post. So I'll ask.... but keep in mind I'm not really asking.... I just need 10 characters but;

How does angling the hone change the amount of time it took you to learn?

The hardest thing for me to learn was keeping the pressure really really light on those last dozen laps. Angling the hone "solved" that problem for me in the early days and enabled me to get a shaving edge much earlier in the learning process. Now that technique is just gravy, but in the early days it was a critical success factor.

Excellent! The big moments that occured in my learning curve, and then theoretically altered the amount of time it took to learn were:

Lapping the damn hone
Learning a good stroke technique
Assessing an edge correctly
Buying a microscope
Being patient when honing
Seeing the value in thinner hones
Learning the value in slower hones
Learning the differences between stainless and carbon
Learning how to hone a singing razor
Learning that every hone is different beyond just the grit
Understanding that grits have a natural speed
Learning when to use pressure and when not to
Learning that stropping was a part of honing
Learning that scale position is important
Learning that less pressure is more about anti overhoning than edge lift
Learning when to stop honing
Figuring out how to judge minor overhoning
Developing a new set of ideas behind the "finishing" process

But then again, these didn't change the time it took to learn.