Thread: Honing

New to the Forum, Hello everyone! I am having a hard time getting the center of my razors sharp. The toe and the heel sharpen with no problem. I have this problem with 2 razors. I am new to straight razors but have honed knives for years. My sharpening stones are fairly new so I don't think they have dips yet. I am using a 6k,8k,and 12k. Any advise will be appreciated. Thanks!

Welcome to the forum!

Did you lap your stones first?

A couple of quick thoughts. Have your hones been lapped flat? Can you post pictures of the edges in question? Razors and knives are different, some of your skills will of course cross over, others are completely irrelevant. Most guys like to use a pro honed edge as a bench mark, do you have one? Not all objects that look like razors are able to be honed sharp enough to shave with, what kind of razors do you have? Welcome to the forum.

Originally Posted by Phrank

Welcome to the forum!Did you lap your stones first?

+1. After u make sure ur stones are flat by flattening, make sure on a known flat surface if ur razors have a flat, smiling or frowning edge.

my 8k is new but I have sharpened a few knives on my 6k and its probably 5 months old. I suppose I should quit using the same stones for knives and razors? I will lap my 6k tomorrow and try again. I got a descent shave with the razor tonight but I mostly used the toe of the blade. I find it odd that a new razor and a old one sharpen the same.

Check this link out...I use the grid with a pencil to get them nice and flat:

Hone Lapping 101 - Straight Razor Place Library

If you need to set a bevel on either of those two or any other razors, then you are going to need a lower grit hone like a 1k.

Like others have said, you need to make sure your hones are flat. Also, are you doing an x-stroke or straight strokes?

Anthony,

Welcome to the forum.

What brand of razors are you honing? Also if you could post some pics of the whole blade/s, both sides and close up enough that we can see, it would probably cut out a lot of speculation.

If you're used to sharpening knives by raising a burr and then removing the burr, etc.. Razor honing generally doesn't do that. Much more light touch and finesse on a razor using more of a heel leading and x-stroke.

Best Regards,

Howard

Just because a stone is new in the box doesn't mean that it is flat. Put a pencil grid on it and lap it until the grid is gone.

Thanks for all the quick replies! I have tried the X stroke and just going straight across the stone. I think most of my problem is I kept trying to change when I didnt see results quick enough. The new razor is a Dovo best quality and I seem to have gotten the one straightened out once I realized I had a frown in the blade. The other one does have a slight smile more noticeable in the spine than the edge, Maybe thats my problem? I will post a pic once I figure out how to. Its been awhile.