Thread: Second full honing ever - Gold dollar 208

I'd have to agree with everything Euclid said except the tape. The Gold Dollar angle tends to be too steep anyway, so lose the tape and hone away. It isn't like you're mutilating a beauty queen, it won't get much uglier than when it arrived lol. In fact, I usually thin the spine with the edge taped then reset the bevel to the thinner spine (albeit not much, but it is flat at this point). When the bevel is set, you might want to lightly join the bevels then reset at the next highest grit.

I do know people that tape the toe when that #$&* overground heel won't hit the hone...

Cheers, Steve

For my personal razor I don't sweat the heel much, because I never use it anyway. I figure one day the rest of the razor will be ground low enough it will touch and get sharp too. Then again, I've spent so much time wrestling it I think it's already there, if not really close.

I hope you don't mind me chipping in but going by the second set of photo's you put up to me your bevel definitely doesn't look set because there's a fare amount of light reflection coming off your edge which is a tell tale sign.

Looks like you got close with your bevel set but didn't do quite enough. To my eye the edge should be a little bit straighter, i.e. less toothy looking. As you hit the 8k it showed us that you didn't spend enough time with the 4K getting out all the 1k scratches. The 8k and 12k look like you would have been alright if the 1k and 4K had been completely run through.

As you finish on each hone really do your best to get super light for a good few strokes, it will help you practice a finishing stroke and also make for less work getting out the last hones scratches as you move up. One more thing to think about would to be at least leave the pasted strop alone, and one better would be to leave out the 12k as well. You can get a surprisingly good shave off the 8k with linen and leather. Maxing out your 8k will also vastly improve your honing, but the only way to do it is to spend time with it, it will really help you develope a bench mark as well which in my belief is indispensable.

Otherwise looks like a great first attempt and your photos are good too.

Originally Posted by Marshal

For my personal razor I don't sweat the heel much, because I never use it anyway. I figure one day the rest of the razor will be ground low enough it will touch and get sharp too. Then again, I've spent so much time wrestling it I think it's already there, if not really close.

BUT... Grow a goatee/mustache and you will use it.

Cheers, Steve

Originally Posted by Steve56

BUT... Grow a goatee/mustache and you will use it.

Cheers, Steve

Find my last post in the Movember thread, and you'll see why that will never happen.

But, if you are honing GD to learn, how to hone a razor…