Thread: Honing My Hart

Greetings Gentlemen,

The good news is that last Christmas I was given a Hart Steel razor -- a thing of physical beauty, wickedly sharp and butter smooth to shave with. A few "growing pains" with the square point, but I'm not complaining. The bad news is the time has finally come to hone it.

In the past, I've had great help here with my honing troubles on my Naniwa stones. While I've learned to do a good job with them (1k, 5k, 8k and 12k hones) on my Revisor and T-I straight, I'm not able to get the Hart up to snuff. It's not as sharp as it came, and it's sure not as buttery smooth.

For my sharpening routine, I use Lynn's approach from his videos:

20 circles with a bit of pressure (each side), and 20 more with petty much the blade's own weight, followed by about 10 laps. I do this on both the 1k and 5k stones.

Then on to the 8k and 12k stones for 10 or 12 laps each.

Next it's maybe 50 laps on a pasted T-I paddle strop.

Finally on to the hanging horse hide strop for 20 laps on linnen, 60 or so on the horse hide.


We now have a shaving shop in town that specializes in wet shaving. I thought I might pick up a 16k Shapton stone, but they don't have it and advised against using stones finer than the Naniwa 12k.

It could be my technique, of course -- maybe the Hart requires a different approach. I wouldn't know why, though. All my razors are hollow ground. Wait, maybe the Hart isn't hollow ground. I forget.

I wonder what others think? Get a shapton hone, like the 16k? Maybe one of these 4 sided box strops with different gradations of chromium paste? Other products, techniques or ideas?

Thanks for any thoughts.

If you are just going by rote Lyn's routine it may be that you are not working on the 1K Nani long enough to really set the bevel. If it isn't really set then going up the progression will not make it any sharper. I believe some on here have said Hart razors have hard steel and if that is the case all the more reason to stay on the 1K nani to be sure your bevel is set.

Bob

Bob,

Excellent observation -- you're right, I usually go through the steps not checking for sharpness til I'm done on the stones. Then I check with a version of the hanging hair -- will it pop leg hairs when passed 1 cm or so above the skin.

I should at least incorporate some sharpness checks into the routine.

Good point about Hart's hardness. This could well account for why my Revisor sharpened the same way at the same time came out sharp enough, while the Hart didn't!

Just a thought , why did you go all the wa back to the 1k? Did you try just touching up on the 12k for a few laps?, but the least invasive start would just put your edge Back to sharp Also if you went back to the 1k maybe you never got all the 1k Stria honed out which could have left a chippy edge which would not be smooth. From what I understand a hard blade could develope chips too from over honing, but there will be someone along who's better than me just thought I'd ask why. Tc

Yup...



Like Tc said, you overdid it. The oft used phrase around here is "less is more" when it comes to touching up your razor. When you felt that the razor no longer was shaving adequately, the first step should have been just your pasted strop. The odds are good that it alone would have been sufficient.

If you found that paste did not bring it back, then your 12k hone would have.

Do not bother getting a Shapton yet. If you cannot get a proper shave with what you already have, then another hone will not fix it.

I don't know why the Hart isn't sharpening up for you, but I agree with the advice not to get another hone. If the progression you have (I use the same progression) isn't working, adding another hone into the mix isn't going to help. If nothing has occurred to damage the bevel, all the blade should need is a refresh. If you're resetting the bevel, that happens at the 1000k level. The only benefit to going beyond a 12k is to refine an already perfectly set bevel, which doesn't seem to be the situation here. You are perfectly set up with the stone progression that you have. I would advise working with a mentor. Good luck.
'

I should have done it this way, now that you suggest it, TC'. If I was worried that the bevel was set differently I still could have blackened it with a marker, honed it on teh 12k, then checked it with my loupe to be sure the razor and hone were actually "talking" to eachother at the correct angle.

Dohhhh.

Originally Posted by Wayne1963

If you're resetting the bevel, that happens at the 1000k level.

I know that you meant 1k level, but a re-set of the bevels of a razor that recently had been shaving would not need to go down to that low of a grit. A 4k would be more than sufficient.

So at this point do I really need to work that 1k . . . or is it more likely the 5k to smooth out the saw blade I made of it on the 1k?

That local shop offers a honing seminar for 2 hours on a Thursday evening. It probably couldn't hurt to take that, since it's local.

Harts are 1/4 hollow and originally honed with tape. I also think you need to feel your way through the hones instead of counting strokes. Check with you loupe. I find my Hart does take a bit longer than a full hollow razor.