Thread: A Noob & His Hone.

Got my first hone this week, and I'm totally stoked! Per the advice on this forum, I went with a higher grit stone. A Shapton 12k M5 ceramic, to be exact. Good brand, good price, and should be more than enough for me to get started out on!

Anyway, onto the reason for this thread. I'm attempting to "walk the edge back" on a chipped Tufpug that is otherwise in great shape (if you discount it wearing the clothes of my ERN lol). So the stone is just barely not as wide as my razors are long. I tried the x-stroke, but found it to be uncomfortable to attempt. Also, keeping the blade in even contact with the hone was not easy during this.

So I have taken to having the blade on the hone at an angle for my stroke. Mostly heel leading, before t I do change it up & go toe leading for a few laps. I do not perform any swooping action. I simply have one end of the blade further down the hone than the other, and do laps straight down the length of the hone.

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


Layed the razor length ways on the stone to get a good shot of the chip.

Notes:
Keeping SWMBO from giving me the stink-eye means this will be my only hone for a while.

I lapped the hone with 320 grit w&d sand paper on a marble tile. Rinsed thoroughly.

I have been soaking the hone 10min before each of the two sessions so far.

One layer of tape.

I switch the tape out and/or rinse off the hone when it starts to look like one is affecting the other.

I have been working the stone wet, with the only slurry being what is whipped up from the blade going across it.

I know nothing about Shaptons since I have Naniwa, but IMO it's going to take a LOT of strokes to get that chip out on a 12k stone.

Ah, yes. That's what I forgot in my notes...

Notes (cont.):
I'm well aware that this will not be quick. Hence why I mentioned this is the only hone I'm gonna be getting for a while.

Due to my lack of experience with honing, I'm attempting to walk the edge back, rather than bread knifing it. That way I can worry less about not being able to set a bevel.

Well, for what I think you paid for the Shapton, you could have had either a Naniwa 3/8k combination, or a Norton 4/8 k combination, either of which would have served you better for what you want to do. Bread knifing is rarely done by most, most of us just go down to the 8 or 3or4k stone to bring an edge back, and you can shave off the 8k's. With a chip like that I might go to a 1 k. But whatever works for you now that you have your one stone (I get it), go for it. I'd suggest Lynn or Glenn's videos on honing from YouTube.

Yes it can be done and should not take too long, but the razor looks to have other issues. The bevel looks very uneven. Post a photo of the razor without tape, both sides.

Just set the bevel on a piece of 800 or 1k Wet & Dry, but first you have to figure out why the bevel is so uneven. It could be your straight stroke and uneven pressure, how many laps do you have on the razor at the time you took the photo.

Also looks like you have something under your tape.

At the time of the above pic, I was just about to start my first session with it. So it has the antique shop edge on it, and 0 strokes. The uneven bevel might be an optical illusion from the light source in the room (you can see the ceiling fan reflection in the water on the hone ). I think that is an air bubble under the tape, cause I'm pretty meticulous when starting something new.

Tonight (tomorrow), I will post fresh pics of it, with better light. ...maybe I'll cobble together a light box out of the wife's spare white poster board?

It might be a good idea to post a photo without the tape on the spine so members can see the hone wear on the spine.

Bob

Watching........

Well that was tricky! Gonna need to re-read the library section about taking pictures of razors lol. Btw, the hone cost in the neighborhood of $48 with free shipping.

I was more discerning of lighting angle & such, here are bevel pics...


Face side, toe.


Face, heel.


Backside, heel.


Back, toe.

Now for the hone wear! This was tricky in it's own right. Mostly because there isn't much hone wear to speak of.


Back, toe.


Back, heel.


Face, toe.


Face, heel.

The grind.

Would you call that a near-wedge?

Btw, since it was about to be honed, I took the liberty of measuring the blade width with a digital caliper before I started honing at all. It tapers consistently from 0.59" at the toe, to 0.57" at the heel.