Thread: Honing help on a couple razors please

Originally Posted by Euclid440

The Geneva has a bit of a smile but should hone just fine.

The Geneva just needs a bevel set on your 4k, using an X stroke. As said tape it and ink the bevel to make sure you are hitting the whole bevel and shifting the pressure from heel to toe.

The German razor is in need of repair, it is a lot more than a simple touch up or a plain honing. It needs reshaping to remove the heel hook, left unattended that hook will cut you. This may be something you want to send out as it will require some tools you may not have and some experience to do correctly.

I would reshape the heel similar to the Geneva and make the heel portion smile the same degree of arc as the toe, so it looks symmetrical.

Make a cardboard tracing of the toe and trace it onto the heel with a sharpie, then with a diamond file grind it to the ink and correct the heel hook at the same time.
You will be removing a fair amount of material and will need a Diamond file or plate in the 300-600 grit range and a 1k to re shape and set the new bevel. It will also have quite a smile that also will take some experience to hone.

As far as the pressure statement, I was referring to your stropping, do not add pressure when stropping. You should use lite pressure when stropping, if you use pressure, you will roll or break the edge.

On the smiling razor you will need to strop with a bit of an X stroke to strop the whole edge.

Thanks for the advice Euclid. I'm a bit confused as I assure you the entire bevel is not hitting the stone on the Geneva. The middle is clearly not touching when the heel and toe are on the stone. Do I just need to keep honing until it is all flat to the stone? Sacrificing material from the ends to get the middle down?

If you use a straight stroke then the heel and toe will only touch the stone, but if you use a proper X stroke, it will shift the pressure across the whole edge from the heel to the toe, like honing a curved knife.

It is a very subtle pressure shifts not a big swooping stroke from corner to corner.

Start with the toe on the upper right corner, begin a slight downward angle so the heel stays on the stone until the half way point, finish the stroke with the toe in the middle of the stone at the end, not off the lower left corner.

This will give you a slight pressure shift where a small amount of the bevel is on the stone at a time, but honing the bevel from heel to toe.
Do not use more pressure.

Those two types of strokes (X-stroke with heel forward, and rolling X-stroke) will be most effective in honing your Geneva.
Notice how the razor leaves the hone almost all the way out to the toe.
Those are not easy strokes to do and will need some practice to get them right, but do not get discouraged.

Originally Posted by mainaman

Those two types of strokes (X-stroke with heel forward, and rolling X-stroke) will be most effective in honing your Geneva.
Notice how the razor leaves the hone almost all the way out to the toe.
Those are not easy strokes to do and will need some practice to get them right, but do not get discouraged.

Thank you Stefan.