I ordered a Belgian yellow yesterday from Howard at The Perfect Edge. We talked about many things pertaining to honing. He suggested that I use a microscope to examine my edge as I am honing. I have a "Lumagny, 30X, Illuminated Microscope". It's 5-1/2" x 1-3/4" x 3/4", with a light and a focusing wheel. I have used this to examine the crystals on buds to determine when to stop the growing process of certain plants(hummmm!).
I have been working on getting one of my Grandfather's old razors shave ready. I have been working quite a while on it with a very slow barber hone. I thought I was getting very close(thought). Upon exaimining the edge with the microscope, the edge appeared to be riddled with pits & uneven burrs. It looked to be a craggy sillouette of a mountain chain. I had to practise a bit to allow me to follow the edge from the heel to the toe. Not really knowing specifically what I was looking for, I brought out two razors that I knew had good edges. One is a wedge honed by Lynn and one a B&W honed by Bill Ellis. Wow! What a revelation. The edges were perfectly straight with no burrs or pits. At the edges was a very thin shinny bright light, and straight. Above the light, at the tip of the edge, seemed to be..... , I don't know, little fuzzy serrations? I've read that we can't see these so I don't know. -but there was something that appeared to be rather fuzzy.
Either way, I feel this is a huge step in learning what is going on with my edges in regard to honing, and I couldn't recommend this more for newbes starting to hone. Can't wait to get that Coticule!
Steve Boyd
