Thread: Remote assistance required - to hone a razor

Hi,

I have been a member for some time and shaving every day with a straight for the past few years - something I look forward to every morning.

Right when I started my brother in Belgium sent me a Dovo Black Star razor - my first. Since then I acquired quite a few more and I am fortunate to shave with a different razor every day of the week.

I have never successfully honed a razor and only tried with one the Dovo (before I was a member at SRP) which I royally messed up - I am sure it will be easy to spot in the pics. Recently I got a Norton 1000 and 4000/8000 and I would like to try my hand at getting the Dovo into shape. As I live in Africa I cannot drive across to someone to assist me in fixing this Dovo.

Since I have a good camera I thought I would take some pics and request that members on the forum provide me some advice in terms of what they think I should do to set a bevel and then to get it to shave ready. I would be able to document the process as it progresses.

Looking forward to assistance from members in the forum.

My monitor isn't that great for resolution and brightness so I may be missing something, but the blade looks good to go for honing. Use one piece of electrical tape, I use 3M but whatever. Since it is a full hollow you want to apply 'gentle' pressure in setting the bevel, but not too much, or you can actually flex the blade and cause more bad than good. No pressure and you'll be spinning your wheels. You might also read the portion of the 1961 barber manual PDF from the SRP library help files. The illustration shows an ideal blade profile and the text explains how to keep it, avoiding a frown.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/srpwi...t_-_Honing.pdf

A picture is worth 1,000 words, so you might want to watch the two videos linked below, by Lynn. Do the circles on the bevel setting and maybe switch to X strokes on the rest of the progression. Circles can remove more metal, so be careful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

A lighted loupe from EBay is a great tool to help you see your edges under magnification. They cost around six dollars USA, maybe cheaper based on your location. Please feel free to ask a lot of questions, this is a great forum with a multitude of experienced members.

Hi, I realized that when posting a picture the uploaded resolution is reduced I will have to post some magnified pics.

This morning I used the caliper and measured the spine at the shoulder end and the heel end. This is where my main concern is and I would like your advice.

On the side with Dovo etched the spine wear is as follows:

heel end = 1 millimeter
toe end = 0.75 mm

On the other side

heel end = 0.6 mm
toe end = 0.6 mm

Therefore the etched side is ground uneven and slightly more than the other side. In order to set a bevel I would have to correct this and get both sides even. Is taking metal off on the non-etched side as well as the toe end of the etched side the correct action ?

Kind Regards

I just wondered looking at the first and the last picture whether this razor has a slight frown towards the heel. If so you wil have to remove that first.

Hi Kees, I just took this pic - To better see the edge.

Originally Posted by Gerhardb

Hi Kees, I just took this pic - To better see the edge.

I would think, one piece of electrical tape on the spine. Elbow horizontal and off the table. Light steady pressure with the 40 circles ccw twards & 40 circles ccw away.

Lynn has a YouTube video with the Norton 4k/8k and circle method.

Originally Posted by Gerhardb

Hi, I realized that when posting a picture the uploaded resolution is reduced I will have to post some magnified pics.

This morning I used the caliper and measured the spine at the shoulder end and the heel end. This is where my main concern is and I would like your advice.

On the side with Dovo etched the spine wear is as follows:

heel end = 1 millimeter
toe end = 0.75 mm

On the other side

heel end = 0.6 mm
toe end = 0.6 mm

Therefore the etched side is ground uneven and slightly more than the other side. In order to set a bevel I would have to correct this and get both sides even. Is taking metal off on the non-etched side as well as the toe end of the etched side the correct action ?

Kind Regards

No need to measure anything. Use a layer of tape and don't worry about what the spine looks like for now. Mark the bevel with a marker and give it a few strokes on a hone. If the hone can hit the entire bevel there is no reasons to be concerned about the spine. Read about the basics and set the bevel on your 1k. Use a loupe and look at the bevel often to help you see what's going on through the process. Stay on the 1k till it can easily shave are hair and pass a thumb nail test.

Ok, so this is where I am at the moment.

Watched the suggested videos and some more. Read some threads including one on shaving off the 1000 grit hone - interesting !

I started as follows:

Make sure all the tools are 100% by lapping the hones and adding a layer of electrical tape on the spine, visual inspection of the blade in bright sunlight with a 10x Loupe.

Round 1 honing:

Stayed on the 1000 grit Norton stone until I was able to shave hair off my arm, I had to use a fair bit of force and it did not shave cleanly. I then went to the 4000/8000. In hindsight I should have stayed on the 1000 until I had a better result. The edge looks fine, it digs in slightly when I do a TNT.

Compered to a factory edge for a Revisor it was no good and I started the process again after watching some GSSIXGUN videos on Youtube.

Round 2 honing:

This time after watching the videos I varied the pressure on the 1000 grit hone, starting with medium pressure (still very little metal came off compared to what I see on the videos - in round one none that I could see came off) I make this observation based thereon that in the videos you can see metal collecting on the hone - in my case this is hardly noticeable. I did 40 circles either side and then 20 by x strokes with very little pressure - the end result was much better in shaving off arm hair - much less pressure needed and it was taking off most hair as I would shave my arm. At this point my left forearm has very little hair left.

I went onto the 4000/8000 with x strokes pyramid and really did not substantially improve the edge - I can shave with it but prefer not to and certainly it does not pop hair off on my arm.

Based on what I am describing above would you say that I should now shift my focus onto 4000/8000 part of the sharpening process - 2 x things worry me (1) I don't seem to be taking as much metal of as I see in the videos (2) setting the bevel is 90% of honing and no use moving onto 4000/8000 part if the first is not 100%.

Comment appreciated.

You're headed in the right direction. Honing has a learning curve and trying and failing is part of it. So don't get discouraged! You really want to be 100% sure that the bevel is set before moving on to the 4k. Don't focus on how much metal is being removed because it should be a very small amount. It may take several rounds of circles and X strokes. For me personally I use two tests to figure out if my bevel is set. Test 1 it should easily shave arm hair. You don't need to shave a patch off of your arm, just pick a couple hairs and the blade should easily pop them off. Test 2 is the thumbnail test. If it's popping arm hairs I know that some parts of the bevel are set. The TNT will tell me if the entire length is uniformly set. If any parts feel kinda rough or don't seem to drag the same it still needs work. It should drag a little and feel buttery smooth from heel to toe. After a good TNT I give it 15-20 very light laps on the 1k and move on. No more TNT after that! After bevel set I don't do any more testing for "sharpness". The bevel is as sharp as its gonna get and needs to be polished/refined. Stay on the 4k till the 1k scratches are removed and the 8k till the 4k scratches are gone. Use your loupe to regularly look at your progress. Then on to a finisher(if you have one) and strop.

This is what works for me. Others have their own routines and in time you'll have yours. When you're done try popping arm hairs and hanging hair tests. They won't tell you if its shave ready, but it's a subjective way to observe what's going on. In the end the only test that really means anything is the shave test. When you get a good edge shave with it a few times. Then go back to the hones and try to make it better.