Thread: Honing Stainless Steel

My 2¢
A couple local hone person of good repute got stuck with HESS Frozen Steel Razors and spent the day at a meet up with out much success.
Later all got together and the consensus was that the Stainless is tough and the shape of the grit has a great impact upon grinding performance. That meant to them and later, me, that; the work must be done at the lower grit levels and then use differing directional strokes from then onward up the grits to clip off the top smear of the ridges between lower grit scratches.

I am a machinist most of my life and know that the stainless steels will smear...meaning that they do not cut cleanly without a sharp grit and extra effort.

Some hones with a rounded crystalline grit for may not cut but only wear away the surface. That said, some stainless steels like to be finished on Coticules and Thuringers.

All in all more work beyond the usual on the 800- 1K will pay off in later cleanup work to a good shaving edge.

So knowing those things I have done a feew stainless "Frozen Steel" Friodures, and Wapis and Wapicopies in slightly over the time I would often spend on a normal honing. And, yes, some carbon steel blades do take a longer time.

Good luck and watch what happens with each stone and steel and take the time to inspect what is going on at each few laps on a stone. After a while this will not be necessary but you are training your senses to understand the process you are using. Muscle memory is a key to being able to mentally concentrate on your particular process and modify it as needed.
Cheers
~Richard