Thread: My honing 101 home schooling course

I'll chime back in as the one who used the "counterintuitive" term. First, just want to say that I really respect everyone who has contributed to this thread and in no way wanted to sound like I was arguing or debating the point that higher grit stones may do more harm than lower grit -- simply saying that I personally didn't understand why that was true. I still assumed it was true, based on the many posts I've seen before from Utopian and Euclid. I've learned a ton from both of you.

So, just to make sure I'm learning this correctly, the main risk of overusing an 8k stone is chipping the edge, right? Which does not apparently happen with, say, a 1k stone?

Yes, that's correct!

In most instances and for most razors, you won't need more than 20 laps on an 8k hone.

I would second the advice about doing some "extra" laps on the 1k if not really sure if bevel is set. I did that this last weekend on my Dovo Bismarck, which is in pretty good shape overall but had been honed with tape by a honemeister in past and now that I am wanting to do my own honing, I've been struggling to get it as sharp as I recall it being in the past. I'm not using tape. I really do believe that it has been a not-totally set bevel problem, and after reading this and some other threads, last weekend I did do a couple add'l sets of circular and x-strokes on the 1k and it did really make a difference on the TPT.

I didn't look at the edge under magnification, but sounds like in future the protocol is to hone on the 1k until you are really sure you've got a good bevel, then hit it with a 4k (in my case, 3k) for a while (and OK to do some "extra" laps on that stone if not absolutely sure bevel is set). Then, on 8k and 12k, best to look at the edge under magnification before starting and after maybe 5 or 10 laps to see if stria from prior grits are gone, then stop.

I would advise getting a decent vintage razor to learn to hone on. You don't even need one with scales but learning to hone on a better razor with good English, German or American steel will set you up to hone most of the razors you will end up honing. Trying to get a good edge on junk from China will not help you as much as learning on a basically good razor from the start. I have found all of my razors at antique shops, flea markets & garage scales. I have some mighty fine razors I didn't spend over $30.00 for & several were from $5.00 to $10.00.