Thread: Favorite method to check bevel?

Your right Marshal about this magnification thing. For ages I had lovely shaves, and did minimal time on hones. I've had the USB scope a while, and at first some of my edges were mirrors, straight and pretty, but every little mark or fault was visible. The scope sat there for six months as I just repeated what had gotten me results, then I picked it up again and wasted steel fixing problems that my 30x loupe could not see. No more, it's vanished to that drawer that has all the junk you tend to keep but will never use, we all have one of those drawers, and that's where the scope is, now and forever!

Yeah, I suspect that people were sharpening razors for hundreds of years just fine without microscopes, tomatoes, or many of the other tests we use. As is often said on here, the shave is the only test that really matters.

Originally Posted by bobski

Your right Marshal about this magnification thing. For ages I had lovely shaves, and did minimal time on hones. I've had the USB scope a while, and at first some of my edges were mirrors, straight and pretty, but every little mark or fault was visible. The scope sat there for six months as I just repeated what had gotten me results, then I picked it up again and wasted steel fixing problems that my 30x loupe could not see. No more, it's vanished to that drawer that has all the junk you tend to keep but will never use, we all have one of those drawers, and that's where the scope is, now and forever!

That was my conclusion about using microscopes after seeing threads on here about people agonizing over imperfection seen at high magnifications. If my edges are good enough to give a smooth comfortable shave with having been checked with a 10X to 20X loupe, why bother spending money and driving myself crazy to boot? If you can't see trouble at those low magnifications there really is no trouble of any huge consequence.

Now if you are a perfectionist looking for the ultimate edge then microscopes may well have a use in honing.

Bob

I think lots of us go through a stage where you find yourself, 'edge chasing '. I got a bit caught up in that when the Suehiro Gokumyo 20k arrived, and all I ended up doing was putting creams on 'weepers'. So, especially since I branched into jnats, my attitude to edges is less judgemental. I'm not knocking the Suehiro edge, but just the need to maximise an already great edge, with potions as well (.1 micron spray). So my attitude now has matured and I enjoy a number of different edges, not predicated on sharpness alone.

Originally Posted by bobski

I think lots of us go through a stage where you find yourself, 'edge chasing '. I got a bit caught up in that when the Suehiro Gokumyo 20k arrived, and all I ended up doing was putting creams on 'weepers'. So, especially since I branched into jnats, my attitude to edges is less judgemental. I'm not knocking the Suehiro edge, but just the need to maximise an already great edge, with potions as well (.1 micron spray). So my attitude now has matured and I enjoy a number of different edges, not predicated on sharpness alone.

i like your thinking, when i first started honing several years ago i ground away unessary steel on the 1K and would spend a few hours just honing one razor going from strop to HHT and back to the stones and i was caught up in the razor had to pass a certain HHT but as my skills progressed my time on the stones was reduced greatly, nothing wrong with spending lots of time on the 1K if necessary but in the begining for me i spent way to much time on the lower grits and pressure was also my main enemy.

If anyone gets curious on how quickly one can hone a razor google "the Ax method" by alex gilmore, i have tried his 21 stroke method and was amazed how quickly one could take a razor that had already had a bevel establised get to a finished edge so for me now i pretty much know what i need to do in most cases to get a good solid shaveable edge but then as stated the shave is the ultimate test for any edge and if it's not up to par i do what my Mentor has told me over and over "hone, shave, repeat"

I use a kitchen wiping tissue (Sopalin or essuie-tout in France), folded twice. I put the nose on the main fold and push forward. When the bevel is good, it slices the tissue like a hot knife in butter. Just with the gravity on the blade. You also feel where the bevel is not sharp enough during this movement.

I've had a go at Alex's axe method and for brand new razors out of the box it's an excellent method. Some razors need a bit of heavier lifting but for new ones where there is a bevel the axe method can get you over the line.

Originally Posted by bobski

I've had a go at Alex's axe method and for brand new razors out of the box it's an excellent method. Some razors need a bit of heavier lifting but for new ones where there is a bevel the axe method can get you over the line.

In my opinion, if you press near the edge to compensate for some shortcoming in regions of the blade, then you simply are creating more problems in the razor.

Sorry Ron, but I'm missing something, are you referring to torquing the blade down on to the stone, as in a twisting motion to make better contact with the blade edge and the hone? If so, what is wrong with torquing the blade to make better contact with the stone as opposed to the spine? Correct me if I'm barking up the wrong tree.

In my opinion, torquing is ideal and should be done.
I'm talking about how he described how if there is a region of the blade that is lagging behind the rest in getting an edge, he recommended and demonstrated pressing one finger down on the blade near the edge to increase the pressure of the edge on the hone.