Thread: Dull a la Barber Hone

Sorry, Super-Noob Here -
I bought a Boss Barber Hone from another SRP member and couldn't wait to "touch up" my nicely honed new-to-me from JoshEarl that I have shaved with for the last few weeks with only regular stropping. Needless to say, my sharp blade has been dulled by my inexperienced hand. I used lather as instructed on the box but did not execute the X pattern properly (I found out after doing further SRP research).

What can I do now? The only hone I have is this Barber Hone. I don't really want to go through the divorce that would probably follow my entrance with a Norton 4k/8k. I do have a Rockler (sp?) Woodworking store with sandpapers and 12k Japanese water stones (and Nortons for that matter). Any way to salvage it myself? Josh has offered to re-hone but I would rather do it myself. This is my only straight as well. Suggestions?

take Josh up on the rehone and have a razor to shave with while you figure out how to hone another razor.

It took me, and I'm no slouch, over 6 months to be worth a damn on the hones.

I gave a friend a razor and 3 barbers hones which I know will sharpen a razor just fine, and lessons, and a sharp razor, and a microscope to compare the edges.
After a month he still can't get an acceptable edge.

Send it to Josh and see if he will be kind enough to send you some chrome oxide back with it to keep it sharp till you learn to hone.

BTW
Some people here seem to look down on barbers hones because each is a little different from the next but so are razors, and people.
There is nothing wrong with barbers hones and although they may require some experimentation to get familiar with each different one you should view that as being part of the journey.

In some cases the journey is more important than the destination.
Pick yourself up, dust off the shame of dulling your razor, and continue on your way.

GW -
You're very kind, Sir. As well as everything else has been going with this straight shaving learning curve, I was surprised how quickly I figured out how to dull my blade! You're probably right about contacting Josh. I wish I could pull it out of the fire myself, though . In the meanwhile, I have set it aside so as not to waste the steel!

Honing takes time and sending back to Josh is a good idea. He is also good enough to fix your blade with even more damage.

Is this hone smooth when you run your wetted finger over it?

What exactly did you do wrong during the x pattern?

Start with a few circular strokes with a little pressure, then . . .

I would do some more honing on the barber hone without lather using the proper x pattern stroke. Start with just a tad of pressure then test shave again and see if its any better.

Then if needed hone again using as light a pressure as you can muster (that means except the fact that your new and don't use just the wieght of the blade, use enough to ensure the edge is flat on the hone) 8 strokes should be fine.

Then, if all that fails send the whole mess to Josh and let him go from there. Also, either way, ask him to tell you want he thinks was wrong.

Don't bother over giving it a try, get another razor and have at it again. You've got to learn how to hone.

Sheesh, I turn my back for one minute...

Dewey, I'd be glad to touch it up for you. Also, if you'd like, you can ship the Boss (the hone, not the one who would give you grief for buying a Norton) to me, and I'll see what it's capable of.

In the mean time, it sounds like it's 30 lashes with a Mach 3 for you...

Josh

Also, I'm with Alan when it comes to trying the barber hone without lather. I've had more success with them dry then wet or with lather, for some reason.

Don't worry too much about wasting steel or damaging the edge. The barber hone will be slow enough that you won't remove much material, and I don't think you'll damage anything as long as you don't use the razor like a machete ...

Give it a go for a couple more days and see what happens.

Josh

sory to hear about you trouble, I hope the hone works out for you though. If there is a problem with it that I didn't notice I will send your money back. I ruined a razor on my first try with honeing, and I am just starting to get capable with them. Good Luck!

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

Is this hone smooth when you run your wetted finger over it?

What exactly did you do wrong during the x pattern?

Originally Posted by JoshEarl

You can ship the Boss (the hone, not the one who would give you grief for buying a Norton) to me, and I'll see what it's capable of. (<--Dewey, Might be an even better deal to send BOTH Bosses!!)

In the mean time, it sounds like it's 30 lashes with a Mach 3 for you...

Josh

Alan:
AFTER dulling the bejeeeses out of the blade I noticed a small patch on the hone that felt a bit rougher than the rest of the surface area. Might be a small part of the problem. (Truth be told it is still a sharp blade, just not to shave with.)
What I did initially was to basically move the blade in a figure 8 on the hone with lather using very light pressure. This did result in the blade being moved with the edge leading then trailing through the movement.

Josh:
I may be a honing idiot, but no Mach 3s are under MY sink! I had to fire up the 1912 Gem, however!

BPatten:
Very considerate of you, but I'll try to figure out what went wrong before worrying about it, at least for now. Now, if it is discovered that there were hidden IEDs withing the surface of that 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