Thread: My first successful hone!

Super excited guys! A friend of mine gave me this 5 dollar cheapo razor that couldn't cut butter, so I figured I'd give it a shot. And it came out nice! Not as good as a pro would do, but it gave a real nice shave! All I have right now is a norton set, still want a finishing stone. But anyway had to share in my excitement!

AWESOME!!!
The first of many successful honed razors!

Hope so! I was really stressed from this old Wade and Butcher that just will not sharpen. I bought it and it was supposed to be shave ready, definitely wasn't. So I never got to use this razor yet. Figured I'd give that a go and nothing. Guess it's one of those tough ones. So making this one actually shave just made it all better!

Bell-ringing big bravo! 'First shaveable edge is a major milestone & a huge rush of enthusiam, joy, sense of accomplishment. Any old bull that doesn't remember that feeling - likely has alzheimers.

That it didn't happen on a heavy sheffield is no surprise & certainly no detraction. I have had a few that would NEVER take an edge. When I read that some were case-hardened only - it made sense.

Have fun as you learn more with the stones. There's nothing lacking in having a Norton 8k as a finisher. In fact, I would recommend AVOIDING any higher finisher acquisition until your 8k edges are reliably had w/ each razor you try. The temptation is always to move to the next higher grit stone, thinking it can work out any 'iffy' sections left at 8k. The 8k edge can well be thought of as a gateway - if its not right here, its not going to be right on anything else. A pasted strop can hide the deficiency for a time, but there's no substitute for getting solid stone work well done.

Here's to having many more blades put a huge smile on your face. Again, Congrats!

Thank you! The 8k was great. I also did some laps on a balsa strop with green then red paste. You know I started on the 1k stone, Does anyone use the 220 side? I haven't, I thought it may take to much metal off, and in the videos I watched they always started on the 1k. Just wondering if anyone starts with the 220 or if it's ever really used. Maybe just for knives?

I consider the Norton 220 to be borderline useless for razors. It just makes a muddy mess and is so soft that it makes little to no progress for a straight razor. If someone wants a Norton 1k hone, they are better off with the single grit version.

I never used it, didn't think it was going to be usefull. When it's time to get new stones, I think I may just get the single grit stones, and not the 220.