Thread: First Attempt at Honing

I've been shaving with straights for a while now and decided to take the plunge into honing my own. I picked up a few cheap razors for practice, bought a Norton starter set, and a pasted balsa strop. This afternoon, after watching videos from Lynn and Glen multiple times, I decided to jump in with both feet. I prepped the 1k, 4k, and 8k with the Norton flattening stone using grid marks with a pencil. I can tell already, that I'll want to get a diamond plate, but that's for later. I did use a good straight edge and the stones looked flat.

I chose three razors from among those that I picked up. They are in pretty good shape (no rust or serious pittling), but would not cut arm hair or pass the thumb test at all. I honed a Rogers XY Sheffield, a Boker King Cutter, and a Wester Bros. Anchor Brand, No. 20.

I followed Lynn's video on setting a bevel on a 1k (figuring out the pressure needed on the 40 circles is tough), and the last part of his video on finishing on the 4k/8k with circles and x-strokes. I then did about 10 passes on the balsa strop, then stropped on plain webbing and, did about 60 passes on black latigo.

All three razors were lopping off arm hair at 1/4" after the 8k.

I will do a shave test tomorrow on all three. I shaved three passes today with a DE Rocket so there is no beard to try tonight.

More tomorrow after the shave test. I am looking forward to the Mile High Meet Up next weekend so I can get some mentoring.

In the meantime, we'll see how tomorrow goes. It seemed like it went well....but I know I'm an absolute newby....

More to come...

sounds like your off to a good start! but like they say,"the proof is in the pudding". Hopefully your a natural at it. but like gssixgun says "honing is easy, until its not" we've all found that out.

I'm new at this so I will be following with interest.

So I did a shave test with just the King Cutter this morning. I just did one downward pass from my right sideburn. It was certainly sharp enough to remove whiskers and there was no skipping or dragging that I noticed. I finished my shave with a razor that I know has an edge that is in very good condition for comparison purposes. I think the King Cutter lopped off my beard as easily as did my Imperial. It was not as smooth though. I'll try the other two tomorrow and the next day and then go from there. I am happy so far at my first effort.

Sounds like you're off to a good start. Keep at it and you'll will be honing consistently in no time.

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I am using this thread to make a honing query ! Suppose I honed a new razor and it passes HHT and thumbpad test to my satisfaction, need it keep passing HHT with each subsequent shave, or should it keep passing HHT before each time I get to shave with it before my next honing session with it. I find that stropping temporarily increases sharpness but it may not always result in blade getting back in HHT condition as was the case immidiately after honing.

But the razor shaves well nevertheless, the result after XTG is more than adequate, so does the edge need to be 100% sharp all the time or is it just an OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) to want it to be that way each time I pick it up to shave.

HHT is just an indicator. The shave is the true test.

“Suppose I honed a new razor and it passes HHT and thumbpad test to my satisfaction, need it keep passing HHT with each subsequent shave, or should it keep passing HHT before each time I get to shave with it before my next honing session with it.”


Well, that is personal preference, I am constantly amazed by the quality of edges that folks shave with.

Personally, I do not see why anyone would shave with a sub-par edge. For new straight razor shavers, it is not uncommon for stropping to be an issue for maintaining edge quality. Theoretically you should be able to maintain a razor on just leather and linen, surely it is easier with paste.

Whenever I feel an edge is flagging during a shave, I stop and look at it or pick up another razor. Looking at an edge with magnification is the most conclusive test for a shave ready edge.

HHT is notoriously inaccurate. HHT and TPT will not detect a chip.

Are you going to be at the Denver Meet on Saturday ???

You're a braver man than I am Gunga Din!

I started with only ONE straight razor.

That way, if there was something drastically wrong with my technique:

I would only ruin one razor,
Learn from my mistakes and
Try again with a new method on a new razor.