Thread: One hand or two hands pros cons???

I actually hone both ways. If you're honing hand-held, you have no choice, the stone is in your other hand.

On a bench, I frequently use a finger or two on my off (left) hand as a kind of 'outrigger', not so much to apply pressure, but to sense if pressure is not even and occasionally direct pressure being applied by the right hand. Sounds more complicated than it is, but sometimes a resting finger (usually) 3" away from the fingers that are applying pressure can sense things that can't be easily felt at the tang.

Cheers, Steve

If you're using a truly good stone, it won't matter if you use one hand or two, and it won't matter if you use a little too much pressure. What's more than a little? Anything that flexes a razor and leaves you with something other than a uniform bevel under a microscope (flexing during the "fast" work will leave a bevel that looks like it's been taped even though it hasn't).

Excluding the people who spend their time trying to break anvils with rubber hammers, I'd imagine that most of the shortcomings in honing are: doing too much of it and not knowing when to stop (which can still yield a good edge, but can wear out a razor pronto) and doing too little of it and not completing the job. The rest of the stuff isn't as important as it's often made out to be. Two hands or one hand should never make a difference (to someone who is willing to practice), especially in the age of abrasive powders.

The one place that I'd prefer one hand, but it may not even be required there, is with barber hones where you generally don't want to use them all the way to the razor edge because most of the vintage types are quite coarse until you get into the swaty, norton, #00 type stuff.

Originally Posted by Utopian

What I'd really like to see is an edge honed by him on his Perfect Edge natural hones.

There are a lot of small known quantity japanese stones in the $125 range. I don't know whether or not his stones are any good, but $125 is a fairly large price for a stone when you have no idea what it might be (presumably sedimentary silica, because there aren't a lot of stones like the japanese stones that have alumina in them naturally, and we already know what the novaculites are).

Anyway, never a fan of the unknowns (the house razor and the house stones) when they are as much as a lot of other known options.

Several years ago, I got a razor off of ebay from a vendor who is still on there. It was tanifuji and for a good price. Somewhere in the mice type, it said "has warp", but I missed it when I bought it.

It was still $165 (new and unused -with box). The "warp" was actually a bubble in the edge, I have no idea why it wasn't ground up and thrown away at the factory. When I say bubble, I mean it's probably half a millimeter out of line or so, and only over about 1 1/2 centimeters. In order to hone that razor, I have to actually push the bubble down against the stone and put more pressure on it than I'd like, otherwise it'll have what looks like a bite mark right in the middle of it.

It turns out that despite putting pressure on that spot to push it down to the stone surface, it shaves great, and strops fine (and without following up the honing with pastes or powders). Nobody would ever put that much pressure on a razor on purpose, but because other than the bump, the razor is good quality, it tolerates it fine. When you hone the opposite side, you have to push the sides next to the bubble down to get the whole bevel flat on the stone.

I should've sent it back, but I have a personal bugaboo about sending things back when it's my fault that I missed something. It taught me something about honing, though, not something i"d pay $165 to learn, but it is what it is.

Originally Posted by DaveW

If you're using a truly good stone, it won't matter if you use one hand or two, and it won't matter if you use a little too much pressure. What's more than a little? Anything that flexes a razor and leaves you with something other than a uniform bevel under a microscope (flexing during the "fast" work will leave a bevel that looks like it's been taped even though it hasn't).

Excluding the people who spend their time trying to break anvils with rubber hammers, I'd imagine that most of the shortcomings in honing are: doing too much of it and not knowing when to stop (which can still yield a good edge, but can wear out a razor pronto) and doing too little of it and not completing the job. The rest of the stuff isn't as important as it's often made out to be. Two hands or one hand should never make a difference (to someone who is willing to practice), especially in the age of abrasive powders.

The one place that I'd prefer one hand, but it may not even be required there, is with barber hones where you generally don't want to use them all the way to the razor edge because most of the vintage types are quite coarse until you get into the swaty, norton, #00 type stuff.

Sorry I missed your 3 posts here, they are very insightful! Since I posted this OP I have been practicing with each method, I have not found a difference rather I am using 1 or 2 hands but way more important is the work getting done. I am using my loupe more and more making sure the scratches or stria are reaching all the way to the edge. These questions I ask arise because I really do like to practice which is why I keep running into little hiccups attempting to try new things. Also I am a locksmith just shy of 20 years on the job. I didn't become a professional at it because I learned one way it's because I have learned several ways to do my job, so I have the same affinity for straight razor honing and such. I am 34 and I hope to keep the honing razors profession going for years to come to pass on to others along the way. Thank you

A locksmith -- I'd guess you occasionally have to pick a lock in your business? That certainly requires some sensitivity and fine motor control...