Thread: a honing question

hello everyone ,
i wanted to ask i have a razor that i have been trying to set the bevel on .
on the TPT and TNT it performs excellent along the whole blade , but it would not cut arm hair at the toe even though the heel does exactly that without any problem.
my question is should i continue to hone until the toe cuts arm hair as well , or would you move on to the next stone because the TPT AND TNT seem to be fine?
i am setting the bevel with the naniwa 1k traditional
thank you all very much

Go to the edge of the hone and do some circles right on the toe (both sides) until it will cut, then do some more x-strokes and retest

Well, the TNT will cause a little damage to the edge, so you might want to do a few more laps on the 1K after you test each time. Personally I don't worry about testing on arm hair until after I hit the 8K hone, but that could just be me.

The thing to remember is there is no absolute method to honing success. It is definitely an individual thing, within reason of course. The most important thing you can do when honing is to experiment, in a structured way, to see what works for you and what does not.

So if you find the TPT and TNT seem OK to you at the 1K level but that arm hair is not being cut, see what happens when you then move up to whatever you have next. My next step is a 4K then onto an 8K, for example. I do another TNT at 4K then move onto the 8K, at which point I worry about arm hairs. But that might simply be my arm hairs. I know it works for me because I have experimented over a number of years.

In the end it's about that final edge and how well it shaves you. How you end up there can be the result of many paths when it comes to edge testing.

Good luck!

James.

The magic marker test will let you know if your stroke is effective at the tip. It really should be all that for the entire edge before you move up. The loupe is my best friend when honing.

Yup. Odds are good that you are reaching the edge on one side but not on the other side of the toe and your thumb just can't detect it. The marker test with one stroke on each side might reveal this.

Sounds like the stroke you are using isn't reaching the toe or you simply haven't set the bevel there yet. A loupe as Rez said would let you see this. Use the marker test but also look straight down on the edge. If you can see the edge the bevels aren't meeting

thank you guys very much for the great info .
i will give it a second go and post the update

Originally Posted by azourital

thank you guys very much for the great info .
i will give it a second go and post the update

Just to rule out a potential cause. Check the razor for any warp or twist, ,might be causing the toe to be raised. To check it, lay the blade on the edge of a table flat as you'd do on a hone and press on each corner. If it stays flat on the table and doesn't rock, then there is no warp. There are other ways to check for this, good luck with it. Cheers Bob