Thread: Honing from a Newbe

I, like a lot of new str8 razor shavers, am trying to learn to hone my own razors. I, in my quest to learn, have read every thread in the honing section - some two or three times. My goal is to take a not shave razor and make it shave like a Lynn Abrams or Bill Ellis honed razor. - quite a lofty goal, ea! Presently I am working with a "Little Devil" barber hone, a 3x8 Coticule, and a .5 CRO2 pasted paddle. I will say I am not working with poor razors, most of these are good razors that are just not shave ready, yet. Yes, I have been struggling like a lot of newbes to hone correctly. Most of my project razors have come close, but in the end I reach for the DE or the Feather and complete the shave. I then took the advice of Howard and bought a cheap microscope from Radio Shack, 60X to 100X. * First of all, it's important to have a well honed razor so you can see what a good, keen, edge looks like under the microscope. I first looked at my not ready to shave razors, and noticed that the bevel was very shinny - and reflecting lots of light. The edge was a bit craggy and emitted a bright light all along the edge. I then brought out two razors that I knew were sharp, a wedge sharpened by Lynn and a W&B sharpened by Bill Ellis. Wow! What a revelation! First of all, the bevel was almost black, very dark. The edge was quite straight, almost like a ruler, and there was little to no light emitting from the edge. That was it(discovery)! I then took an Ebay razor I had been working on with little success and went to the Coticule. The bevel looked okay, so no need to use the barber hone. I did 50 laps, looked through the scope and noticed the bevel was darker and had less debre on it. I did 100 more laps (yes, I did) - Wow, something was happening. The bevel was darkening, the light on the edge was becoming deminished, and flatter. I even did several laps on the paddle, noticing even more improvement. I finially put the razor up and went to bed, anticipating the morning shave. To make a log story short, The next morning this little Ebay special gave me a wonderful, wonderful shave! Close (very close) to the Abrams/Ellis razors.

In the future, I may not have a need to use the microscope, maybe. - but for now, I have a point of reference to tell me where I am and what I need to shoot for, and if what you're doing is not working, to try something else. I want to develope a "feel" for the blade and use my senses, and my experience to tell me what it needs. - that could be a long time in the future. Who knows.

One more thing,... I am only going to use very slow stones until I feel confident in using fast stones. If I have learned anything from these threads, this, I believe, is important.

* This note is for those of you newbes who are struggling with your honing. This has worked for me!

Regards,

Steve Boyd

Steve,

thanks for taking the time to post this report. I've heard some of the same advice but it's always encouraging to see another newbie making it work.

I'm reading over 150 passes and thinking, "what on earth did that do to the spine?"

Did you notice any significant flattening?

Also, the passes you used...were they an X pattern or straight up and down the hone?

Way to go, man

Originally Posted by steve

Steve,

thanks for taking the time to post this report. I've heard some of the same advice but it's always encouraging to see another newbie making it work.

I'm reading over 150 passes and thinking, "what on earth did that do to the spine?"

Did you notice any significant flattening?

Also, the passes you used...were they an X pattern or straight up and down the hone?

Way to go, man

Good questions...., Steve

Not flattening at all. Straight up and down on the Coticule.

Working on one tonight - for tomorrow's shave, a little gem of my Grandfather's. I noticed (under the scope) that the tip was really ragged, so I did circles on the barber hone. It improved it quite a bit,and then I did a hundred(str8 up & down) on the Coticule, but before that while doing circles, I cut the S**t out of my finger. Really, really bad! I don't even know how I did it. Honestly, the only cuts I have ever gotten since str8 shaving has been accidents like this, not on my face. Go figure!

Steve

Originally Posted by zepplin

Good questions...., Steve

Not flattening at all. Straight up and down on the Coticule.

Working on one tonight - for tomorrow's shave, a little gem of my Grandfather's. I noticed (under the scope) that the tip was really ragged, so I did circles on the barber hone. It improved it quite a bit,and then I did a hundred(str8 up & down) on the Coticule, but before that while doing circles, I cut the S**t out of my finger. Really, really bad! I don't even know how I did it. Honestly, the only cuts I have ever gotten since str8 shaving has been accidents like this, not on my face. Go figure!

Steve

thanks for the answers, Steve.

Watch out for those cuts. Remember, the thumb pad test isn't performed by seeing how much of the pad you can slice off

Steve,
It sounds like you're doing really well with the honing. Don't worry about the cuts as they scar over. Don't know anyone serious about steel and edges who doesn't have a patina on their fingers and hands. Blade magazine regularly has articles about safety and the final polish is the most dangerous operation in the shop as the buffing wheel can grab the blade and whip it out of your hand. One guy had the knife driven into his thigh and had the presence of mind to take a picture of it sticking out while the ambulance was on its way. Very dramatic picture. Another guy had a knife whipped out of his hand by the buffer and couldn't find the knife for a week. He then discovered it stuck into a beam in the ceiling. Another guy had a buffer whip a blade out of his hands, bounce it off of the concrete floor into his balls. Ouch! The moral: if you play with sharp things (and razors definitely qualify) you're gonna get cut. Keep a well stocked first aid kit nearby....

Keep up the good work.

Originally Posted by Howard

Steve,
It sounds like you're doing really well with the honing. Don't worry about the cuts as they scar over. Don't know anyone serious about steel and edges who doesn't have a patina on their fingers and hands. Blade magazine regularly has articles about safety and the final polish is the most dangerous operation in the shop as the buffing wheel can grab the blade and whip it out of your hand. One guy had the knife driven into his thigh and had the presence of mind to take a picture of it sticking out while the ambulance was on its way. Very dramatic picture. Another guy had a knife whipped out of his hand by the buffer and couldn't find the knife for a week. He then discovered it stuck into a beam in the ceiling. Another guy had a buffer whip a blade out of his hands, bounce it off of the concrete floor into his balls. Ouch! The moral: if you play with sharp things (and razors definitely qualify) you're gonna get cut. Keep a well stocked first aid kit nearby....

Keep up the good work.

I have quite an active mind and it has always been a struggle for me to "stay in the now" while I am doing something else. I will be thinking multiple things while in the middle of a project. That's okay if I'm mowing the lawn or whatever(oops! - just ran over some dog shit). My real challenge is to remain totally focused while handling a str8 razor, either sharpening or shaving. Seems too obvious, doesn't it!

Steve

Good work on the honing! Keep it up.