Thread: Are You A Real Man? Do You Think You Can Hone? Shave Off Of Your 1k Hone

The last time i shaved off a 1k was a couple years ago. I did not have a Chosera and really just put in the effort to make the razor shave. That is what I achieved. A razor that shaved and not well at all.

This time around I bought an ugly little chipped razor off eBay and used the 1k like it was the only stone I had. I went from slurry to water I went from pressure to less than blade weight.

The result is a razor that can shave quite smoothly off the Chosera and my normal stropping count linen and leather. My future honing efforts will get the "one and only stone" approach at bevel set from now on.

Originally Posted by Gasman

Ive looked very closely at the edge and i can see it with my 40x loupe. Its a tiny white line. Very, very thin. Maybe i shouldnt be seeing this. Ill work on that. I will also check another razor that i know is very sharp. This might be a good idea. Thanks for pointing this out @ejmolitor37.

I'm very much guilty of getting to this phase at 1K and thinking to myself, "Good enough. I'll clean it up on the 4K..." I know there shouldn't be any white shiny visible when you're done with the 1K. But I also know that once it's gone the method you used to make it gone is somewhat irrelevant. Maybe for the sake of form I should get out of that habit.

Took the 1k challenge with a honing-practice razor and did a couple WTG strokes with it this morning. Wasn't smooth like a finished blade, but it definitely worked. Have spent several months reading forum honing tips and practicing. Will shave test my edges as I move up the progression.

A question: A while back I found a great thread that had good photos of fellas doing the looking down the long edge for light &/or sparkles. Anyone happen to know the thread link? Can't find it again and want to look at the photos again.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/honin...ml#post1573089
This is not the only thread but it has a lot on really good pictures.

Awesome, thanks RezDog!

Shaved the Taiyou off the 1k King this morning and had a decent, if not great shave. The one thing I did differently from my normal bevel setting routine was to strop and then do light finishing strokes. Not only did it make the edge usable for shaving, but I was able to just now max out the Botan slurry with a single dilution rather than the usual 2 or 3 - I go straight from the King to Jnat. I'll finish honing this afternoon and test the finished edge tomorrow morning. Very useful challenge, indeed!


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Continuing with the Gold Dollar - I shaved the right half of my face with the 4K this morning. It tugged a little bit, I suppose this is why we say the general rule of thumb is 8K for a comfortable shave. But a big step up from 1K, and got much cleaner in a single pass.

The second half of the shave went a little rockier. My Shapton Kuromaku stones came in, as did a Geneva Cutlery razor from eBay. I cleaned up the new razor, worked out a crack it had that I missed when I was checking photos ( ) then set about getting the bevel set on the Shapton 1k.

Talk about an aggressive stone, that thing feels (and shaves!) like honing on sand paper and stripped the steel off in record time. I've done a few blades that required a chip be worked out, and this stone set the bevel faster than just about anything else I've used. First pass everything looked good under the loupe so I took it in for a shave test. It didn't shave so much as it ripped hair out. Back to the stone for about a hundred passes, 50 medium pressure 50 zero pressure. Didn't look any different under the loupe and still wanted to tear hair off my face rather than shave it off. Back to the stone, bunch of light passes because the bevel was already as straight as I could get it at 1K and meeting. Still ripped hair out.

So for kicks and grins I lapped the Shapton 2K and took the razor to it. Once I stopped seeing improvement in the stria I stropped 50 linen, 50 leather, and shaved. NOW it shaves about like my Norton 1K edge did. I suppose this is why, in reference to these specific hones, I read someone comment that to them the bevel is not set until 1.5-2K.

Well, no razor burn on either side of the face. Left side is a bit patchy, by the time I got a workable edge on it I just wanted to be done. I suppose I'll lap & prep the 5K stone tonight and maybe get each of these blades ready for their next phase of testing.

WTG on 600, XTG/ATG on 1K. Unfortunately it didnt occur to me to take a photo of the 600 edge, so here is only the 1K. Phone and loupe, nothing fancy.

This went much better than I expected and wasn't very uncomfortable at all. Far from great of course, but it was a good exercise, one I will probably repeat in a year, or so.

Today's shenaniganery: Gold dollar tuned up on the Norton 8K, Geneva tuned up on the Shapton Kuromaku 5K.

First observation with respect to the Geneva and the Shapton 5K: You would be hard pressed to tell the difference under a loupe between the Kuromaku 5K and the Norton 4K. To my eye the 5K is a touch finer, about what you'd expect to see when comparing a 4K and 5K hone I guess. No difference in the shave between them really. Slight tuggage, but with a single pass and little spot touch ups it got respectably clean. No razor burn on the left half of the face today.

Second observation between the Gold Dollar and Norton 8K: Definitely a marked improvement over the 5K. Both under the loupe and in the shave. So we can put the 'Norton 8K is actually a 5K hone' myth to bed. As for the shave, close, clean and comfortable. The aftershave burned a bit on the right side, but that's normal for me with a razor fresh off a 8K+ synthetic stone. Too keen.

I suppose for the final phase I'll put the Cnat edge back on my cheap Chinese razor, and of course finish the Geneva with the Shapton 12K. We'll see if I end up making a Cut of the Day post the same day I finish the 'Shave off every hone in your progression' challenge.

OK-- so you guys are having way too much fun again so I'm in.
I just got three brand new Choseras 400, 600 and 800 for knife work but if Ron can do it I can try.
OH BOY What have I gotten myself into now?
I will pick a test razor tomorrow and start with my 400, never tried shaving off of anything coarser than a Norton 1K before so will report back on how it goes.

Call it the Chosera challenge 400 next 600 then 800 on to the 1K then the 3K will have to switch to other Naniwa stones past the 3K. Maybe the Falcon 4K and Fuji 8K, well we'll see, this is mainly about learning and I'm still doing a lot of that.

Thanks Ron for getting this started again and for everybody's participation.

Frank