Honing Log.. do you?

Curious if those of you who do a lot of honing on various finishers, keep a log of what you do? I have a few ways to finish my edges and try to keep a log, but invariably I forget. And while I don't have a HUGE inventory of straights, I have enough that I forget how I finished the edge..

I'm an adopter of tech and created a template to log my inventory and honing. The template is in an application call KustomNote and it saves to Evernote. As easy as it is, I am thinking I may switch to note and paper and keep it my honing box..

Do you log the razors you hone? If yes, how and what do you log?

I highly recommend keeping a log of what razors you hone, what you honed them with. The more info you provide for yourself the better. Especially if you have a variety of hones and a lot of razors. I wish I could say that I did this consistently, and I intended to, but unfortunately my 'log' was few and far between. Whenever I did do it I used scrap paper, writing down what I did, and intending to transfer it to a computer. Alas, I've largely neglected that practice. So do as I say ....... not as I do .... (something I picked up from my father) ......... :shrug:

I keep a spreadsheet with tabs for shaves, honing and razors.
Honing is anything more than stroping
Big fan of Evernote - what template did you use in KustomNote?
"East of Montauk?" Not too far from Dave's Grill I hope...

More of a old school guy. I keep my shaving log in the front and honing log in the back.

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Good idea. Something I have intended to do, but never done. I suppose at least 1 layer or two on old Sheffies might be helpful! :D
I do have a pretty good one on jetting my dirtbike and suspension settings. ;)

I don't keep a log, but I'm thinking I may start. I have a few that I've picked up and know I've used 3 layers of tape, some 2 and most 1. I definitely need to write these things down.

I used to, but don't any more...too lazy. I just put my dull razors in a cup and hone here an there when I get down to a dozen or so on razors I can shave with.

I keep a Bento database with all my own honing.
In it there are about 15 various data fields, most of them very telling when viewed over time.
Hopefully it will keep revealing my various stones and razors secrets;)

when i was firstable to geta shave ready edge i went back and honed almost every razor i had and kept a log of how i didit, then when i started actually using all of them i realized uuummmthiswaydont work for all of them,, not to long ago i started rehoning all of them and actually shave testing them and keeping a detail log .. i finish almost everything on a coti and ihave all my coti stones #erd as well as theslurrystones ..so it forexamplemay look like
Greaves 7/8
bevel= #1 bout #7 slurry 70 circles
BBW = heavy slurry 30 circles -20 x strokes -20xstrokes throughedslurrydiluted to water
coti #4 slurrystone #7 20 x strokes w/light pressure , 30x strokes no pessure , 20 x strokes throughprogression diluted slurry towater
Finish= #4 coti 60x strokes on water , 40/75 strop
Shave test= smooth shave , slight tug
touchup= 30 x strokes on coti #4 on water ..
result= slight tug is gone ,smooth shave ..

or something like thatis what i wouldkeep in a notebook

I keep track of razors and other shaving paraphernalia bought and sold. And any maintenance performed by date and razor on a spreadsheet. Helps me keep track of things since I shave with each razor only about 12 or 13 times a year.

I used to have a log but I forgot where I put it.

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Originally Posted by MJC

I keep a spreadsheet with tabs for shaves, honing and razors.
Honing is anything more than stroping
Big fan of Evernote - what template did you use in KustomNote?
"East of Montauk?" Not too far from Dave's Grill I hope...

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Same here.. Two logs... One tracks the history of all razors & brushes and another that tracks the honing of each razor. It's only way I can remember where razors came from, what I paid, what I sold or traded them for.

I am deeply entrenched in Evernote. Their business model worked perfectly on me. If they ever close down, I am sunk.

I made a template in KustomNote. That's an awesome companion for Evernote since the developer has reengaged supporting the site. It was dead for a while. PM if you want my details; I'll share the template with you. You'll need to modify it for your stones as I did check boxes for each stone used in the progression. I'll bet there is an easier way, but for now that template works.

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Originally Posted by sharptonn

Good idea. Something I have intended to do, but never done. I suppose at least 1 layer or two on old Sheffies might be helpful! :D
I do have a pretty good one on jetting my dirtbike and suspension settings. ;)

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LOL.. Oh man.. I am a list and records guy for sure.. I have another for the history of mods done on my vehicles (like you, I track suspension settings as well as all other mods), one for all the light bulbs in the house (I can't stand changing light bulbs); every workout... Way too many.

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Originally Posted by gooser

when i was firstable to geta shave ready edge i went back and honed almost every razor i had and kept a log of how i didit, then when i started actually using all of them i realized uuummmthiswaydont work for all of them,, not to long ago i started rehoning all of them and actually shave testing them and keeping a detail log .. i finish almost everything on a coti and ihave all my coti stones #erd as well as theslurrystones ..so it forexamplemay look like
Greaves 7/8
bevel= #1 bout #7 slurry 70 circles
BBW = heavy slurry 30 circles -20 x strokes -20xstrokes throughedslurrydiluted to water
coti #4 slurrystone #7 20 x strokes w/light pressure , 30x strokes no pessure , 20 x strokes throughprogression diluted slurry towater
Finish= #4 coti 60x strokes on water , 40/75 strop
Shave test= smooth shave , slight tug
touchup= 30 x strokes on coti #4 on water ..
result= slight tug is gone ,smooth shave ..

or something like thatis what i wouldkeep in a notebook

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Similar to what I 'try' to do.. I do have a section for Follow-up which is the same as your Shave Test.. but I need to get more diligent with that. Tracking the shave test results and the touch-up and it's result.

I use a 3 ring binder so I can add/remove/move pages as necessary. It is ordered alphabetically by manufacturer and then blade name. Each blade gets its own page. On each page I list when and where I got the blade and how much I paid for it. Then I list by date any repair or maintenance that I've done, including which stones and how many laps. Lastly I list how well the honing worked using my own personal 1 to 10 scale. I do this for all of my razors, knives, chisels, planes, saws, and pretty anything that I sharpen.

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Originally Posted by criswilson10

I use a 3 ring binder so I can add/remove/move pages as necessary. It is ordered alphabetically by manufacturer and then blade name. Each blade gets its own page. On each page I list when and where I got the blade and how much I paid for it. Then I list by date any repair or maintenance that I've done, including which stones and how many laps. Lastly I list how well the honing worked using my own personal 1 to 10 scale. I do this for all of my razors, knives, chisels, planes, saws, and pretty anything that I sharpen.

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That's pretty much what I do, only in digital format so it's more portable. Sometimes I see something, or get an idea for a particular blade and can access the details of any one of the blades or their honing history from any PC or iDevice.

I keep a running log in Microsoft Word and save it to a USB drive. It is up to 90 pages now. I list each razor honed, the approach used, and I always include an evaluation of the resulting shave. One either learns from the past or relives it.

Pilot log, aircraft log, engine log, prop log...bought and sold log, and now a honing log?:gaah: My hobbies are getting to be too much work!

I think note keeping is a good idea. I have approx. 200 blades and approx. 50 stones so there is no way I could remember all the incidentals pertinent to each razor, including purchase price etc.

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Originally Posted by Splashone

Pilot log, aircraft log, engine log, prop log...bought and sold log, and now a honing log?:gaah: My hobbies are getting to be too much work!

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I agree entirely.. I have logs and records up to my eyeballs. But the devil is in the detail and I can't possibly remember everything...

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Originally Posted by mrsell63

I think note keeping is a good idea. I have approx. 200 blades and approx. 50 stones so there is no way I could remember all the incidentals pertinent to each razor, including purchase price etc.

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With that kind of volume, maybe video's make more sense.. :hmmm:

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Originally Posted by MikekiM

LOL.. Oh man.. I am a list and records guy for sure.. I have another for the history of mods done on my vehicles (like you, I track suspension settings as well as all other mods), one for all the light bulbs in the house (I can't stand changing light bulbs); every workout... Way too many.

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So that begs the question, Do you ever review all these records?

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Originally Posted by Splashone

So that begs the question, Do you ever review all these records?

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I do...

Having said that, most of my early records are useless at this point because I was learning on different stones and didn't have a lot of consistent successes. Over the past few months, my edges have matured dramatically and now the information is more useful. Most of what I am trying to track are how to get specific stones to work. My go-to kit is getting close to 'automatic'. It's when I try a new finisher that things really need to be tracked in order to make progress.

Wow. I can't imagine sitting down and noting down all those details. I guess it all depends on the reasons you hone and such. If you are a stone collector, this may make sense. For the purpose of learning to hone, I don't quite see it. My approach to learning to hone is experimenting and trial and error. Generally, you remember what you did last time and whether it worked or not.

I mean, I work in a pharmaceutical company. We have to make logs of everything and the kitchen sink. This is a hobby. It's supposed to be fun. :) At least for me.

No, I can't say I have a log. I do make mental notes of how each finishing hone performs. It's good to know what works best for each stone. After that...I only worry about how the razor shaves.

Big Greg

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Originally Posted by Bruno

....My approach to learning to hone is experimenting and trial and error. Generally, you remember what you did last time and whether it worked or not.
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There's the problem..

I don't get a lot of time to hone so its inevitable that I'll do more than one razor at a time and will likely be a while since I last honed. There is NO WAY I will remember what I did last time when it comes to finishers. On 8k and under, yes.. easy to remember and the purpose of logging it isn't so much WHAT I did, THAT I did it.. Was it a full hone or just a refresh? Bevel set last time or was it three times back?

As I am gaining proficiency, there are fewer changes on the lower grits but some blades need special attention.

My memory is filled with so much that if I don't memorialize it somehow, it's lost.

I think practice may be the one most important factor. I have synthetic stone 1K up to 8K that are standard Norton stones kinda all work the same. After that I use a Arki Black or coti as pre finisher, and I have 2 JNATs and C12K for finishers. It's very important to know how the finishers work and the results to look for, and if one doesn't produce change to the other and try again.

Big Greg