Improper bevel development
Hello,
I am having trouble developing a bevel on a new Wapienica razor. This is my first experience honing. I picked up a few Wapienica razors to learn to hone on(at $8 I can burn through a few and its not a big deal:).)
My equipment:
5/8 Wapienica razor
Norton 220/1000
Norton 4000/8000
Norton Flattening stone(lapped both nortons with this using the pencil grid method before I took a razor to them)
Tony Miller bench strop 1 micron diamond/chromium oxide
I started with the 4k/8k and a fresh razor. First time to the hone. I tried a pyramid of 15/15 down to 1/5 and that didn't do much. But then again this was my first time on the hone.
I tried it again to little avail.
Then my 220/1k came in the mail. I figured I probably overhoned a little, or whatever I was doing was probably not good so I did a few backstrokes/circles on the 1k with the spine taped to remove my current work.
Then I did about 20 laps on the 1k. The first 10 I used a few lbs of pressure. Then I lightened up with every stroke until the last one was feather pressure.
Then I went to the 4k and did about 25 strokes on it starting with about 2lbs pressure and getting slightly lighter with each stroke until the last stroke was probably negative pressure.
Then I did the same with the 8k side only using less pressure to begin with.
Then I did about 30 laps on the chromium oxide hone.
My technique is one handed and I am careful to keep the spine in contact with the hone(the best that I possibly can.)
Examining my blade with a microscope I see that my bevel is uneven. Some areas the bevel is long and others it is very short. Comparing it to the bevels from razors honed by Joe C, and one by Bill Ellis my bevel appears to be too short. At its longest it is about the length of Bill's and Joes, but this is only in a few areas. Most of the razor it is about 1/2 to 1/4 as long as theirs. There is no rhyme or reason to the bevel length(it is like an S) and I cannot see where I am using uneven pressure or anything like that.
I thought maybe my hones are not flat, so I lapped them again, but that did not help.
I alternate between the X stroke and a straight stroke on the hone. If I stay on an X stroke only I can see the the heel does not get honed as much as it should.
What do you guys think I should do. My problem appears to be getting the initial bevel set right. I thought these razors were supposed to be easy to hone, thats why I can't understand what it would need more than 25 strokes on the 1k to set a bevel.
Where should I go now? Should I restart with this razor doing circles on the 1k, or should I junk this razor and move onto a new Wapienica razor and keep on honing on the 1k until I get a good bevel?
Your thoughts?
Thanks,
Chad
PS - My other honing equipment -
Wapienica black(slate?) stone
Wapienica arkansas stone
6x2" yellow coticule from Howard on the way