Thread: My first time with the hones

I've been lurking in these threads for a long time and have always been a little intimidated about honing. I sent my Otto Deutsch Hans to Glen for a honing so I would know what a properly honed razor felt like. I also had a couple of razors professionally restored and honed.
I have many razors that I have purchased that are in good shape but not shave ready. I decided to buy some hones and jump in.
I purchased a Naniwa S1000, Norton 4000/8000, DMT and a SRD paddle strop to go with my hanging strops. I bought CrOx and diamond spray with the SRD strop.
I had a week off and grabbed three razors on Wednesday that looked like good candidates for my first efforts. Following Glen and Lynn's videos, I lapped the hones until flat and began honing. I set the bevel, honed on the 4000 and 8000 until I saw a consistent and shiny bevel. I followed up with ten laps on the felt with CrOx and 50 on leather.


Time for a shave test. All of the razors were cutting without tugging but not as smooth as I would like.
I also have a Kitayama Fine stone with Nagura that I bought at a Japanese cutlery store for my Japanese knives.
I have read that this is actually a good stone for razors and decided to lap it and give it a go. I used the Nagura to make a slurry and honed all three razors for ten laps followed by CrOx and leather again. I also sharpened a knife while I was at it.

I have since shaved each day with one of these razors and have to say I am pleased with the results. While not perfect, each razor is capable of a comfortable two pass DFS. I look forward to continuing to learn.
I am writing this post to thank all of you that post tips and videos on this forum. I would not have been able to do this without you!
Have fun!

I can imagine that it must be rather frightening to jump into the deep end and start honing with no prior experience but now that you've broken the ice, you'll now start refining your techinque and get smoother edges.

Well done.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

Originally Posted by Thug

I can imagine that it must be rather frightening to jump into the deep end and start honing with no prior experience but now that you've broken the ice, you'll now start refining your techinque and get smoother edges.

Well done.

Frightening but satisfying. Thanks for the encouragement.

Looks like you're getting the hang of it just fine. I took the same route as you, the most important part being having a shave ready blade to gauge your success. Thanks for sharing.

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The first time you hone a razor from bevel set to shave ready is a very rewarding experience. Congratulations

Nice setup,,

With the right tools, it's not as big of a deal as some make it out to be. Just need patience and practice. Good job!

Originally Posted by kelbro

With the right tools, it's not as big of a deal as some make it out to be. Just need patience and practice. Good job!

Thank you. You are correct that it wasn't as difficult as I expected. I guess it's easy to over think it. I still have a ways to go but am not intimidated anymore.

Great results mate and they will only get better as you fine tune your own techniques for each hone, just remember preasure is the killer of smooth edges