Thread: Shaving off 8K

That x stroke of yours does not look like mine. I keep my blade straight 90 degrees to the stone and then while keeping the 90 degrees i pull down and across the stone, so that when I am at the end of the stroke my tip is the only thing touching the stone. Turn it around and do the same thing the other way. Someone has the technique as their avatar but I can't remember who it is.

Figued it out I think. I've been honing away for 2 hours on 1K on the same piece of tape.

This is causing my bevel to get wider and not staying in contact with the edge.
I know better than this. Sorry all.
As far as MY X stroke. Its done with the heal leading and a bit of a swoop at the end to make the toe catch up just a bit. More of a straight down the stone then a little off the edge. I'd do more standard X stroke but this razor has a bit of a stabilizer/shoulder/little sharp piece. Ha. So that the heal is just on the stone. If I go in an X then the heal is only on the stone for for very little time.

Hope that made sense.

I gotcha, sounds good to me.

Nothing wrong with using a heel-leading x-stroke to clear the stabilizer, it's a pretty standard honing stroke. Changing it to 90 degrees won't offer any advantage. Good catch on the tape wear, check it every 20 laps or so when bevel setting.

You must not be using any pressure on blade, 2 hrs on a 1000 I wouldnt have any tape left, Did you notice little black pieces on hone?? We,ve all been there it is easy to get lazy on changing the tape, Thats how we learn, Ty

Ya Randy dance has it on his avatar, gasman, maybe try another piece of tape, I,m of the opinion your not getting to the edge, and two hours? I can't even imagine that in a 1k. After 20-30 minutes it's time to evaluate the job again. With the usual bad geometry of those razors, you just may need to add a layer, like was said look at the very edge straight down with light and see if there is any reflections. Tc

I'm sorry, I meant to say that what I'm seeing on your razor does not look like what I get when doing 90 degree x strokes. Looks like the pattern left is the same grain as the blade itself which is straight across. No x pattern at all. My scratch pattern looks like it is 45 degrees to the blade. I see a few lines of 45 degree pattern but not the whole thing.
This is my edge, finished though. Can still see the 45 degree pattern left.

Upside down anyone?

You are right. My patern is not at an angle. I'll check into that must be my strokes somehow. I do try to to use much preasure. Maybe a bit more might help.
BTW, I did take a break and come back to it with new tape. Got the bevel set and put it on a strop for 75 laps. Took it up stairs and shaved three strokes, not passes. As I can see it will shave at 1K just not as close and you can feel every whisker as it cuts. Not really bad but now I know one step in FEEL. Good to know for sure. I'll take it to 4K and go shave a bit again. This has been a nice learning experience. Thanks for all the comments and help. I got a feeling that at 8K the shave will be fine. Not that I'd want to stop at that point but I can see it would give a fine shave. I think.

Sounds good so far! When you go to your Soubudani Asagi, you can do the same thing with the nagura - test shave after each one.

Originally Posted by sqzbxr

Sounds good so far! When you go to your Soubudani Asagi, you can do the same thing with the nagura - test shave after each one.

Will do! But I got a feeling there wont be all that much difference in feel after the first nagura. But I've been wrong before.

I did a test shave at 4K. Its doable. Not too much of an issue except it's just not going to do the job. Thinking at 4K I'd have to do 4 passes if not 5 to be clean.
At 8K. I could do this all day. 8K was right were it was fine. Three passes would give a solid shave. Id say even with no discomfort. This has been a great thing to learn and feel. I bet after a bit of time and more learning I'd be able to tell by feel how far back on the hones I'd need to go to correct an edge and for a serious touch-up. And I've been taking lots of pics and I'm starting to see the differences in the scratches. I wish I had two more days to do this but 1am its back in the big truck I go. Got to make some money you know.

Here is my last pic with the 8K. Now I have to admit I got too excited and went I went back to the hones to start the 8K I forgot to put tape on. Did about 8 Circles before I realized it and you can see it on the bevel. All in all this was a good thing and I hope all new guys give it a try.


One more thing. I'm not sure if its just the razor being ground better or the 4/8 I took of it on the 1K (ha) But the edge is very even across the length of the blade. Nice! This one is a good one for 8 bucks worth of Chinese razor. ZY, A good thing to grind up while learning to hone. Now wheres that Filarmonica. ha.

Oh, And what helped me the most was using Lynn's Circle method. That seemed to do the job a lot faster. Plus with the light X strokes after the circles, Find thing to know. Glad I went back to the vids!