Thread: Using the pyramid method for honing

Can you give us a little more info? What razor, what condition, what stones, what result you're looking for?

Either a pyramid or individual stones will both work equally well when you understand what you're doing. And neither will work if you don't know what you're doing.

Thanks to all of you guys for your replies

Ultimately I'm looking for a shaveready edge. I know it's going to take a while, but thats my long term goal. I have bought a few stones in preparation of my honing adventures: 1k naniva, 4k/8k norton and 12k naniva. I also bought a few razors of ebay, so I guess I'm just going to select one of those and give it a go. All are in good condition, no rust, no chips in the edge and minimal honewear.

My plan was to first learn how to set a bevel correctly. I read about the tomato test, where I would take a cherrytomato and see if I could cut into it; like in this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Utfg9VZTVVY

Another test I'l use is the shave-armhair-at-skinlevel-test, and see what I learn from it.
I also read about the "sticky" feeling of a set bevel edge, but again, that depends on how callus my hands is. I will definitly try the wet DE blade method you described sticky.
I guess I'm going to have to give it a shot and see what I learn from it.

The reason I chose the pyramid method is that it seems to be the method with the least amout of guesswork. I always have a hard time learning new things if I dont have a referencepoint, in this case, how the edge should feel, when I'm done with a given stone.

Well I'd stick with shaving arm hair all along the blade, then popping hanging arm hair all along the blade, instead of tomatoes. Not that there's anything wrong with tomatoes. And use the thumb nail test and get a loupe.
If you haven't got one, this is good:
Jewelers Loupe 30x Magnifier 25mm Glass Lens Magnifying Illuminated Lighted LED | eBay
I think the sticky test is probably the craziest test, cause you've got no idea what sticky feels like, and everything kinda feels sticky, until you finally put a good edge on - and it actually is sticky, but by then you know how to hone.

Originally Posted by Ostekongen

Thanks to all of you guys for your replies

Ultimately I'm looking for a shaveready edge. I know it's going to take a while, but thats my long term goal. I have bought a few stones in preparation of my honing adventures: 1k naniva, 4k/8k norton and 12k naniva. I also bought a few razors of ebay, so I guess I'm just going to select one of those and give it a go. All are in good condition, no rust, no chips in the edge and minimal honewear.

My plan was to first learn how to set a bevel correctly. I read about the tomato test, where I would take a cherrytomato and see if I could cut into it; like in this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Utfg9VZTVVY

Another test I'l use is the shave-armhair-at-skinlevel-test, and see what I learn from it.
I also read about the "sticky" feeling of a set bevel edge, but again, that depends on how callus my hands is. I will definitly try the wet DE blade method you described sticky.
I guess I'm going to have to give it a shot and see what I learn from it.

The reason I chose the pyramid method is that it seems to be the method with the least amout of guesswork. I always have a hard time learning new things if I dont have a referencepoint, in this case, how the edge should feel, when I'm done with a given stone.

The cherry tomatoe test like any test works well if you know how to use it, I would say the best edge probing test is the thumb pad test you just get so much out of it. I gave up using magnification while honing due to the fact that I was honing for looks instead of honing for sharp shave readiness. I figured if it was shiny it would shave.. Keep that in mind.

About the pyramid method I have tried it in the past and failed miserably. It is unfortunate but I gave up on it and sold my water stones. I hope you can pull through and figure it out. It takes a lot of guess work out of honing but not all. Different blades require different things. Keep us posted on your progress and good luck!

Most importantly you should enjoy what you are doing

Shaving arm hair also works. The only issue I see with this is: should the hair be shaven off easily at skinlevel or is it ok if it tugs a little?
Setting the bevel is apparently 80-90% of the honing process, so I guess I would do well to lean that first...

The arm hair test should be done half way up the hair shaft or higher for the shave ready test, not at skin level. A well made bevel off of the 1k stone will easily cut hair at skin level, that is my test for moving up to a higher grit stone.

I haven't done pyramids for a long time but they worked well after a bevel was properly set on a 1k

Originally Posted by Ostekongen

Shaving arm hair also works. The only issue I see with this is: should the hair be shaven off easily at skinlevel or is it ok if it tugs a little?
Setting the bevel is apparently 80-90% of the honing process, so I guess I would do well to lean that first...

Get a loupe and a sharpie too. Both are great for seeing what is happening on the bevel. The thing that seems to be the most difficult thing about honing is interpreting how each blade needs to be rubbed on the stone. The rolling x stroke is the one I use most commonly. The idea is that you get the entire bevel on each stroke, sometimes it takes some gymnastics and usually each side needs a slightly different stroke to follow the bevel. This is easiest to see when you ink the bevel. You should be able to remove the ink in one stroke.

One thing that is really important is that you don't start on a blade that needs restoring, i.e. a frown or one with chips or just a blade whose geometry is all screwed up, it makes learning a lot harder and more frustrating than enjoyable, unless you like to punish yourself.

A good place to start is one your shave ready blade that starts to pull, no amount of stropping will bring it back. Start with your 12k naniwa. Make sure its well lapped. Use whatever tape or no tape on the spine, best to ask the person who honed it, they can tell you. Start with the ink and make a few strokes, it should be apparent at that point whats going on. It shouldn't take very many strokes to refresh. Try popping arm hair above the skin, it should be at least be taking a few if not all the hair the edge touches, though this can vary depending on your particular hair, again why sharpness tests are only subjective and why the shave test is the tell all. Take your time here, remember what you thought was sharp enough, and why you thought it was sharp enough. This will give you a great starting point to develop your own gauge of how sharp is good enough.

If your blade is cutting beard well but the shave is irritating or you're getting nicks or weepers when you feel you have done a good job shaving go back to the loupe, if you look hard enough you'll see little shiny spots where the edge should be.
those are micro chips that either weren't honed all the way out or were caused by too much pressure while honing or stropping. The bevels should look perfectly shiny under 10x and the edge should give off no indications that its even there.

Good luck! There's nothing better than getting a great shave from a razor you have honed.

....and when all the honing is done, strop the bejesus out of it...100, 200, however any you can do well.