Thread: Dull a la Barber Hone

uhhhhh....IEDs?

Military joke--Improvised Explosive Device. That would make short work of any edge.

The figure 8s shouldn't have done too much damage. My guess is that you might have caught the edge on the edge of the hone. This'll screw things up in a hurry. It's a good idea to round the edges of your barber hones with sandpaper. The rough patch could also be a problem. You'll need to lap that barber hone for a while on some 220-grit wet-dry paper, followed by some 800 grit or something in that range.

If the edge feels rough, you probably are going to need to do a lot of strokes on the barber hone to bring it back. Try small, conservative sets for a day or two, and if you don't think you're getting anywhere, start doing groups of 100 laps, then test.

Just keep doing laps, using enough pressure to keep the razor flat. You'll get there eventually. These hones aren't meant for major edge restoration; the instructions to use six to 10 laps are to touch up a slightly dull edge.

The upside of this is that you're unlikely to wear your razor out. The downside is that you can wear yourself out.

Let us know how it goes,
Josh

Thanks, Josh. Do you think I should tape the spine? BTW the edge is not rough according to my (1st attempt) at a thumbnail test. The edge doesn't feel tooooo far out of line either IMO. I'll try a few more times and we'll see. PS Will a good Barber's Hone get a new Wapi shave ready? HeeHeeHee. I may have a couple coming from our Polish friends.....If not would a combo x/12k Japanese Waterstone do the trick (less than half the Norton 4/8 price).

I don't think it's necessary to tape the spine. When I'm restoring a trashed edge, I'll tape because my 1200-grit hone will rip metal off like nobody's business. That way I can worry about the edge and not think about the spine.

A barber hone will wear the spine very slowly, and by not taping I think you'll get a better feel for how the razor should feel on the hone.

If the razor passes the thumbnail test, a barber hone should do the trick eventually. They can be a little tricky to use, though, and I only got the hang of them after making some strides on the Norton...

I've never tried a 12K waterstone. There seem to be both cheap and very expensive versions; the expensive ones have gotten good reviews from some of the members here.

On the Wapis, a barber hone may do the trick, but some of them come with small nicks in the edge. You'll grow a long beard trying to get one of those out with a barber hone...

Good luck,
Josh

Thanks for the info once again! I'll let you know how it goes.