Thread: Two pieces of electrical tape?

Originally Posted by dylandog

Heavyduty, I use a 45 degree angle for wedges because Lynn said it worked, and it does. But how does the 45 degree thing work for a smiler? If the heel and toe don't touch when the razor lays flat, the only technique that compensates for that is the rolling hone stroke, no? I have a couple of smilers that if I'm going to get the toe and heel to contact the hone I practically have to lift the razor. As I don't feel much control honing while doing wheelies and endos, I've resigned myself to dull heels and toes on these.

I agree with your statement about the control issue [heel, toe, smiles], and I'll add as a noobe at honing a big worry of mine is an uneven bevel (starting a second overlapping) as a result. I have a Boker 7/8 smile that looks like a daunting task is ahead of me to get that one shave ready. I keep putting that one off until I get a better with my control and my honing in general.

Originally Posted by dylandog

Heavyduty, I use a 45 degree angle for wedges because Lynn said it worked, and it does. But how does the 45 degree thing work for a smiler? If the heel and toe don't touch when the razor lays flat, the only technique that compensates for that is the rolling hone stroke, no? I have a couple of smilers that if I'm going to get the toe and heel to contact the hone I practically have to lift the razor. As I don't feel much control honing while doing wheelies and endos, I've resigned myself to dull heels and toes on these.

I am still developing my technique for honing smiling razors on wide stones so I do not consider myself an expert on this particular subject be any means. So far I have found that using a 45 degree AND rolling hone stroke has given me the best results with smiling blades. When I talked to Randy he told me that when he hones smiling razors on a wide stone he hones at a 45 degree angle with an X pattern, but he also keeps the toe in the air throughout the stroke. This ensures that the heal will come in contact with hone at the beginning of the stroke. The X pattern will ensure that the toe of the blade makes contact with the hone at the end of the stroke. Obviously the sides of your hone must be rounded off or chanfered so that you do not damage your edge while using this technique. With a narrow stone you will not need to lift the toe in the air because only a small portion of the blade will be in contact with the hone at any given time. I hope that this somewhat answers your question.

This is very helpful heavyduty.

I'll give those smilies another go. Popping a wheelie on a hone just seemed so unnatural.

I did try using the rolling hone method on a one-inch wide Escher I have, but the results were only so-so. I think I put too much weight on the relatively small area of contact between hone and blade – always a temptation for me with narrow hones.

bump.....Bump

Originally Posted by dylandog

This is very helpful heavyduty.

I'll give those smilies another go. Popping a wheelie on a hone just seemed so unnatural.

I did try using the rolling hone method on a one-inch wide Escher I have, but the results were only so-so. I think I put too much weight on the relatively small area of contact between hone and blade – always a temptation for me with narrow hones.

Your correct on the pressure thing, when using a narrow hone I have to be very aware of the amount of pressure I use since it is distributed over a much smaller area.

The other issue to avoid when using a narrow hone is creating gully/ridges on the bevel from only honing one area of the blade. For example.... if you are trying to get the heel sharp then I do one stroke, straight across the hone, focusing on the heel portion and then follow that with one or two X pattern full length honing strokes.
However, if I perform 2 or more straight across heel focused strokes then I end up with a gully/ridge on the edge.

Just my two cents,

This is a great point, Randy. I've really screwed up some bevels this way. It gets worse if you use pressure....

Once or twice I used pressure and did some back and forth strokes just on the heel of a razor while using the 1" wide side of my Norton 1K. Yeah. Not a good idea.

Josh

Originally Posted by heavydutysg135

I am still developing my technique for honing smiling razors on wide stones so I do not consider myself an expert on this particular subject be any means. So far I have found that using a 45 degree AND rolling hone stroke has given me the best results with smiling blades. When I talked to Randy he told me that when he hones smiling razors on a wide stone he hones at a 45 degree angle with an X pattern, but he also keeps the toe in the air throughout the stroke. This ensures that the heal will come in contact with hone at the beginning of the stroke. The X pattern will ensure that the toe of the blade makes contact with the hone at the end of the stroke. Obviously the sides of your hone must be rounded off or chanfered so that you do not damage your edge while using this technique. With a narrow stone you will not need to lift the toe in the air because only a small portion of the blade will be in contact with the hone at any given time. I hope that this somewhat answers your question.

Just a point of clarification.... I focus the pressure on that portion of the blade that is coming off the bottom of the hone when I am using an X pattern honing stroke. I do not deliberately lift the point/toe of the blade at any time. It is almost like Xmans rolling stroke where he is rolling the point of contact but I combine that with an X pattern stroke.

Just don't want anyone thinking that I lift the point/toe of the blade 1 inch off the hone at any time.