Thread: I can't get consistent with setting the bevel

Bevel setting is not consistent. That would be like saying a mechanic at a shop should do the same thing to every car brought in, oh yeah, and all the cars are used and, more frequently than not, abused.

This is a big part of the reason why buying blades off ebay is not a recommended way to learn how to hone; ebay blades have to be diagnosed in addition to honed.

Originally Posted by MisterMoo

What is your test of geometry?

Mark 1 eyeball also, seeing if the whole edge roughly sits on the surface of a flat hone without any pressure and making sure that I get an even water wake across the stone when honing. I actually have a razor in my box that I don't touch because the toe is bent like hell - you can actually see it.

Originally Posted by WW243

Start with no pressure and change from there...none, just the razor's weight floating over the stone, so to speak. I believe site delivered pressure can be useful on a geometrically challenged blade...I don't have those, I get rid of them as I don't enjoy the gymnastics. It is probably more important for a real honemaster to see your technique.

I know this is counter-productive, but I always feel like "WTF am I doing here if there's no pressure?" I forget that we're talking about really, really sharp pieces of metal.

Originally Posted by Euclid440

Also bevel or round the edges of the stone, if the stone is flat but the bevels are sharp, each time you drag the edge across that corner you are undoing all the honing you just did.

And get some lighted magnification, so you can see what you are doing.

Yep, I have the edges of the stone chamfered, and I have a 20x jeweler's loupe and a lit 60x-100x microscope, and a bunch of putty to keep the blade steady while scoping it.

Originally Posted by WhoAmI

I know this is counter-productive, but I always feel like "WTF am I doing here if there's no pressure?" I forget that we're talking about really, really sharp pieces of metal.

Those really, really sharp edges are tinfoil thin. How much pressure does it take to bend tinfoil?

Bob

Originally Posted by pinklather

I find myself remaining w/ those advocates of learning the shave before learning to hone. <snip>I'd ask about the magic marker test results, but when most (very much myself included) try it - it gives marginal info 'cause we haven't really gotten the feel of what a 'no pressure' finishing stroke is. That can take some time to learn.

This might be totally correct, but written like this it's totally counter-intuitive and illogical. Honing and shaving aren't the same thing. To be better at honing, one needs to hone more, not shave more. I'm sure there are shared skills, but the core skill for honing is - unsurprisingly - honing.

Originally Posted by pinklather

Seems we'll be having a NW meet-up next month. You can literally learn more in a day than you will in months of any other method.

I'm definitely coming - it's literally two blocks from where I live so... no real excuse :-p

Originally Posted by WhoAmI

Mark 1 eyeball also, seeing if the whole edge roughly sits on the surface of a flat hone.

A perfectly aligned smiling edge will not lie flat on a flat surface.

Unless you know how to shave you don't know if your edge is right, simple but true ,, cause when your new at shaving , even good edges can give bad shaves so how do you know? And ya honing takes practice, your right there. Tc

Originally Posted by holli4pirating

Bevel setting is not consistent. That would be like saying a mechanic at a shop should do the same thing to every car brought in, oh yeah, and all the cars are used and, more frequently than not, abused.

This is a big part of the reason why buying blades off ebay is not a recommended way to learn how to hone; ebay blades have to be diagnosed in addition to honed.

We might have a mismatch as to what "consistent" means. I'm not saying that there's a magical process that works always on all razors. If there was, we could probably get a robot to do it and be done with the whole issue of honing.

I'm saying that I, given a razor, can't always reliably produce a good bevel.

Originally Posted by bluesman7

A perfectly aligned smiling edge will not lie flat on a flat surface.

I'm avoiding that particular bag of worms for now.