Thread: Why should I kill the edge before honing?

Well, the title says it all, why should I ?

Just new to honing and learning a lot, everything seems logic from what i've read, but killing the edge doesn't...

Try setting the bevel first, then you look and decide what direction to go..

The biggest hurdle for beginners is to learn to assess the edge to determine what it needs

I can understand that, I'm now waiting for my microscope to arrive and I'm curious to see what i've done (or haven't) allready.

What power ??

Originally Posted by gssixgun

What power ??

The microscope? Just a cheap 60x LED china microscope.. hope that can help me to start off..

Perfect

30-60 is about the sweet spot for honing

I don't always do but I'm not doing many ebay specials or restorations.

Where it sounds like it might be beneficial is when someone is working on a razor that is 'kind of' sharp. They hone and hone and are really never hittting the bevel but the razor still 'kind of' performs on a few of the tests. That creates a false positive and they think they are done. I can see where that would lead to a great deal of frustration.

First and last is to set the bevel. Use you optics or whatever to ensure that both sides are meeting at the apex and you can see the scratch pattern ALL the way down the edge on both sides.

If you can't get there, killing the edge might help you get on track.

So i think the most important thing is that if the bevel is set (tested on my thumb nail?) there is absolutely to reason to kill the edge?

That is correct.

Originally Posted by Humanalien

So i think the most important thing is that if the bevel is set (tested on my thumb nail?) there is absolutely to reason to kill the edge?

You just did

The TNT is in itself a more gentle way of "Killing the Edge" more smoothing the edge but still a technique that is widely used effectively