Thread: First succesful Honing

Yesterday I first noted a roughness in my Dovo I had bought from Tony Miller. I had bought from him so I could be sure what a well sharpened blade would shave like. I had kept it well stropped, but after about 4 months I could feel a difference. I went straight to my 6k Japanese Water stone , worked up a slurry with my stone and did about 20 laps with a very light prassure and the classic x movement. Then about 20 laps on leather with rouge, and finally 20 with plain leather. What a pleasant relief. My shave today was as great as the day it arrived!
Sometimes this topic can be a little intimidating to us newbies, I have been straight shaving about 6 months now, and talk of pyramids, 200x microscopes, relative merits of various hones etc are both very interesting and educational, but I wonder if they can intimidate the inexperienced.( They had me worried ) As with many things in life, I think there are many ways to get to your goal, and I wanted to post this in case people were hesitant to at least try to hone their own blades. I think the knowledge shared here is fantastic, and I used a lot of it, but at some time you have to just do it yourself and see what happens. I am sure I will get even better with time, but I achieved a great shave today, so other newbies, take heart, pick one method where you have the tools and just give it a try!Thanks to everyone who has shared all their knowledge, its great.
Jim

Congratulations on a significant milestone!

I've heard it said that golf and sex are the only things that can be thoroughly enjoyable even if you're not good at them . Maybe we should add honing to the list.

Really, it's not that difficult, especially if you are starting with a well honed razor that just needs a touch-up. That's not to say it isn't possible to screw up a good edge, but...

Much of the discussion ad-nauseum concerns a bunch of us old farts with nothing better to do than to argue the relative merits of x vs. y. Don't let us keep you from diving in, the water's fine (now I fully expect someone to disagree and say the water is coarse...if you want fine water it needs to come from a spring in the Carpathian mountians that has been dried up for 650 years, but someone on e-bay...).

Cheers,
Ed

That was an interesting technique as well. I love your success on the first try using an x pattern too. Many will continue to discuss its merits forever though. And on 6K grit none the less . . . well done.

I'm actually thinking about honing my next razor on a brick just to prove it can be done.

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

That was an interesting technique as well. I love your success on the first try using an x pattern too. Many will continue to discuss its merits forever though. And on 6K grit none the less . . . well done.

I'm actually thinking about honing my next razor on a brick just to prove it can be done.

Of course it can, there's a YouTube video to prove it!

Originally Posted by ForestryProf

I've heard it said that golf and sex are the only things that can be thoroughly enjoyable even if you're not good at them . Ed

I can vouch for that... my girl reckons I'm hopeless... but I always have a wonderful time.

Greg Frazer

Wtg Now you're hooked!

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

honing my next razor on a brick

Like a barber hone?

Jim

My own experience has been very much like yours.

Before I had occasion to hone a razor I had found this site and read a lot of the material that has been made available. Mr Abrams and the others have done a lot of the hard work already and have been generous in sharing what they have learnt along the way.

I was lucky to have a 4k/8k norton and a really decent strop available to me for the first razor I ever honed.

No doubt it was far from the result the honemeisters achieve but it was a lot sharper than it started out, shaved better than it had out of the box and the whole experience did not suck... have to be happy about that.

It reminds me of when i served my apprenticeship, one of the old guys used to say all the time "don't get creative.. just do what I told you until you know what you're doing" Only time i ever got in over my head was when i ignored his advice and thought i knew better.

Greg Frazer

Glad to hear your experience went well. I agree that honing's not that hard if you do things right, and it sounds like you did. It's very helpful to a.) have a benchmark and b.) make sure you're working with a razor that has a good bevel.

Most of the confused and frustrated posts you'll come across are from guys like me who decided they didn't need to heed those two pieces of advice.

Keep at it,
Josh

Thanks for all the kind words...
I not only used the knowledge here but also from great books on sharpening in woodworking where a gentle touch and consistant angles are key. Razors are great because you have your angle guide built right in. I just read so many times where people keep sending their razors off for re-setting I want to encourage them to not be afraid to try and to learn from their own experience. Also the knowledge you guys share is awesome. I really think in many ways we are in a Golden age of straight shaving, with so many doing it from interest and affection, not as a chore, and sharing pointers, tips and theories freely. Isn't life great!
TTFN,
Jim