Thread: A Noob & His Hone.

Additional thoughts.

I was surprised at how quickly (relative to the length of this honing session lol) a good crisp edge came back to it after each of the several times I tried breadknifing it. Well, good enough to slice skin on my slightly calloused fingers with no resistance or pressure when a slight slicing motion is applied. I realize there may still be a overhonning/foil edge/not absolutely perfectly set bevel.

I bought this razor and an ERN from the same dealer at an antique mall for $24 +tax TOTAL for both... for the soul purpose of teaching myself honing and restoration.

I bought a Dovo Best Quality 5/8 full hollow, and it just came back from receiving it's free re-honing from Sir Lynn Abrams of SRD. So I've got some practice shaving under my belt, and a great benchmark of an edge to grade myself against .

I appreciate the offer, Euclid. But seeing as how I bought a couple of razors for the soul intention of possibly screwing the pooch with my DIY skills, it would defeat the purpose and only set me back if I were to send it out.

Yes. I am sometimes stubborn. Having said that, this isn't exactly the same as all those honing posts ("dead blade?") where a noob tries for hours to hone a razor that only needed a refresh on a finisher and keeps because the shave is uncomfortable and the bevel isn't set. It takes time (a lot more than expected when noob + 12k is factored in lol) to remove this much metal to work out a chip.

I did try a few (dozen) laps at a higher, more knife like, honing angle in order to expedite metal removal. But I stopped after a few unpleasant harmonics were heard between the stone & steel. Having the structural integrity already weakened by the chip, I didn't want to risk cracking the blade.

What is left of the chip looked a whole lot bigger last night on my way to bed. Looking at it today, I'm feeling much better about my progress last night.

I didn't take "hone surface clogging" too seriously. Until I looked back in hindsight. I feel like some of the most progress was made after each time the stone was rinsed off, no matter what stroke was used.

I tried to compensate for the possible warp in the blade by applying pressure to the middle of the blade when honing with the "face side" down, amd pressure towards the heel and toe when honing "back side" down.

Looking forward to your thoughtful responses!

chances are the blade is warped, most are, thats why an x stroke is most often suggested. yours looks slight, chances are you could be developing a frown or be working your way towards one. Keep an eye on it. The 12k is a great hone to practice getting the stroke right as you will be wasdting very little metal. It looks to me like in the last pic that you need to spend a little more time on the heel and toe to "even" it up with the middle assuming its the grind not giving it the appearance of being uneven. A quick look down the edge should tell you if you have a slight warp.

I would use an x stroke on the stamp side and a rolling x on the other, should even it right up.

Looks like good progress, if you use the 45 degree stroke you eliminate the tape all together, until you actually hone it to set the bevel. You don’t even touch the tape until bevel setting.

I would not worry about the bevel being irregular, it’s probably because of the 3 layers of tape, you probably burned through some ta[e and the extra pressure you applied.

Try some of the 45 degree strokes, just don’t use too much pressure and flex the blade, let the stone do the work. Once you get to the bottom of the chip, leaving a little, then hone it with 2 layers of tape. The bevel does not have to be even as long as you get an edge from heel to toe.

Next time use a sheet of 1k sandpaper, it’s a 10min job with a 1k grit.

Don’t use a file unless, it is a 1k diamond file.

Originally Posted by Crawler

So, any thoughts? Will this affect my blade negatively? Like an accidental smile?

You say this as if a smile is a bad thing ? or do you mean a frown ?

I really can't understand why someone would purposely use a 12k hone to remove a chip like that. Such a waste of time & stone.
You may think 2 or 3 hours removing a chip is good honing practice but all it teaches you is to use excessive force & develop poor form.
Sorry to be so blunt but I hate seeing people take one step forward & two steps backward.

What chip? It's gone, now.

My gut said it wasn't quite ready, but close. And that was close enough for a test shave.

Pre-shave pics...










For the record, this wasn't my first choice for learning how to hone. But there aren't any mentors nearby. There are only a handful of members within a hundred miles of me, and those are all either noobs or inactive or both. So I was left with cautious self-education.

Got the bevel to even out a bit more, thanks to jfk742's suggestion of different strokes for each side. But I'll do a summary of the honing that has taken place since my last post on this thread later. Past my bedtime...

So, the razor shaved. Not well, but it shaved. I was also having slight lather difficulties. It was a tugging Tufpug. ...Like a tee[self censorship]the shower.

Gonna try to keep my A.D.D. in check while I summarize chronologically.

Had another long session working the chip out...
The wife informed me of our plans to go hang out at her friend's house.
My response: "I'd love to, if I can bring my honing stuff !"
Her retort: "No! You should be part of the conversation."
Me: "I chime in! Besides, it's not my fault y'all watch & discuss Youtub'ers and 'Real Housewives' & the likes, instead of wet shaving & Anime..."
Her friend didn't care since I wouldn't be making a mess of anything, and viola! A honing session is born!

So I started out with three layers of tape. Heel leading (mostly), edge facing towards me the entire time, moderate pressure on the "high spot" on each respective side. 20 Strokes back and forth, switch hands, repeat. Refreshing tape as needed.

This got the chip down to less than a third of the bevel. At this point, I dropped down to 2 layers of tape, and reduced my pressure slightly. Still had some "heavy lifting" to do, so that's really all that changed.

I also started to practice the more acrobatic strokes, as well as Alex Gilmore's method. There was plenty of chip left (again, factoring in 12k hone), so this was a perfect chance to start working on muscle memory & routine. Some 2/3rds of the sets done at this point were still the heel leading, back and forth kind because those were much quicker than the other strokes which I was still learning.

By the end of this one, I had to either use my loupe, or silhouette the blade between myself and a lamp across the room in order to see the chip.

Marked it with a fine point Sharpy, which sadly came off the next honing session...

The next day, SWMBO said we were gonna hang out with her friend again. This time, flashing her some "puppy dog eyes" was enough for her to say: "Oh, grab your honing kit & let's go." ...Yippie!

Two layers of tape. Started with angled back and forth's. Switched to the Alex method; rolling-x type for "face side" up, & standard x stroke for "back side" up, with careful & slight pressure on the high spots. Took a little while, but I did see the bevel even out a little more, without adding curves to my straight edge.

When the chip required searching with my loupe just to locate & confirm it's existence, I dropped down to one layer of tape.

I used less and less pressure as I continued.

By this point, it had been more than a week since I last shaved, and my face was getting so blasted itchy, I couldn't stand it anymore!

Went home, wife went to sleep, and I tried putting some finishing touches on this edge. One layer of tape. Only enough pressure to ensure good contact. Rolling-x, or standard X stroke, depending on the side. Tried some light stropping (webbing, then leather [SRD 3"]) before doing two or three more Alex sets.

It was late, I was tired, & my face was itchy. I also didn't want to be told to wear a beardnet at work the next day. So I took my Tufpug for a stroll.

Verdict: still needs some work. It removed my scruff, for the most part, with WTG, XTG, and touch up ATG. No major incidents or bloodletting, but not particularly smooth either. Pretty much what I expected from my novice assessment of the edge.

Uncategorized thoughts.

Took the scales off early on in this endeavor. Made it a little easier to maneuver on the hone, but negatively affected the ergonomics when stropping & shaving.

I definitely rushed the stropping before my shave (in terms of laps, not speed).

The weight of the scales would have helped the shave a slight bit, but oh well.

I noticed a tad bit of microchiping at the edge. As well as an unmet bevel where there is a hint of where the chip used to be.

Fumbled the blade late into the second night at the friend's house. Caused tiny contact damage at the corner of the heel, and almost at the corner of the toe. Quickly honed out to be just unmet bevel. Lesson learned: use some non-slip mat as a work surface cushion!

I very lightly jointed the edge once or twice near the end of the last night of honing, before we headed home. Probably should have spent a little more time on the hone than what I did after that.

Also, I don't have any paste/spray/crox.

Conclusion.
Yes, this took many hours to get it ALMOST completely finished. But that was the intended flight plan from the beginning. I didn't start working this blade on this hone to quickly disappear a chip. I did it to get comfortable with steel and stone. To develop muscle memory. To watch both blade & hone progress and change throughout the journey of this edge. To calibrate methods of inspecting & testing an edge, in person.

Considering the goals I set for my first attempt at honing, I dare say it was a solid success.

.

Looking forward to your thoughtful responses!

REALLY think ya otta put the scales back on.
Before ya hone it.
Its gonna change your memory when you do. JMO

Originally Posted by outback

REALLY think ya otta put the scales back on.
Before ya hone it.
Its gonna change your memory when you do. JMO

They were warped, causing contact with the edge when closed. I found the thought of that over the course of a multi-session honing to be counterproductive.

They were also cracked at the pins. All that handling would have only made it worse.

I realize that will slightly affect the feel of honing later. But if the scales are used for a significant amount of control and/or pressure, isn't that the wrong way to do it?

The biggest difference after taking the scales off was: I could pretty much close my grip on whatever hand they were in. With the scales on, I needed half my hand loose, and the other half trying to control it's half of the blade.

Down the road, razors I deem as "keepers" will have micro fasteners & zinc washers in place of the usual pins. That way, I can break them down & guarantee they are dry after each shave .