Thread: My edges seem to be coming more harsh

This is a really helpful thread. I only use a 12K for refreshing and I think that perhaps I have been overdoing the number of laps too. Coming from a heavy metal engineering background the amount of finesse and small number of laps is something that I struggle to understand. I figure that if everyone is saying the same thing it must be true.

Thank you for asking this question and thank you to everyone who has answered.

I will be very interested to see if your results improve so please keep us posted, thank you.

I think this is a very good thread. There is not much more to add. I remember when I first started honing a very experienced member told me that what you do before the 8K is how well the razor will shave and everything above the 8K will determine how the razor will feel. I can get a pretty nice shave at the 8K so I don’t do a lot past the 8K. I also often go from the 8K straight to a natural finisher.

A couple more days before i yet a chance to try this out but i will post up my f8ndings. Thanks for the encouragement and helpful answers all.

I overhoned a razor the other day, shave fell apart on the second pass. I spent too long on the finisher. I even had the gut feeling I had done it, but that's why it hasn't made its way to the BST. Glen and I talked about "chasing an edge to failure" several years ago, in short we experimented at just how close can you get before you make failure & learning what failure is before you even shave with it. If you catch it on the stones, you go back to 8k. If you catch it too late and it chips out on you, you have to kill the edge and start over. It's just part of the learning experience and most all honers experience it. If you haven't, you haven't honed enough or aren't trying to get the best possible edge.

That backstroke Bob mentioned is magical, it's part of my honing routine & how I hone. I thank Sham for that one in my foundation building of learning to hone.

Originally Posted by ScottGoodman

I overhoned a razor the other day, shave fell apart on the second pass. I spent too long on the finisher. I even had the gut feeling I had done it

What stone and what amount of strokes are we talking here?

Originally Posted by ScottGoodman

I overhoned a razor the other day, shave fell apart on the second pass. I spent too long on the finisher. I even had the gut feeling I had done it, but that's why it hasn't made its way to the BST. Glen and I talked about "chasing an edge to failure" several years ago, in short we experimented at just how close can you get before you make failure & learning what failure is before you even shave with it. If you catch it on the stones, you go back to 8k. If you catch it too late and it chips out on you, you have to kill the edge and start over. It's just part of the learning experience and most all honers experience it. If you haven't, you haven't honed enough or aren't trying to get the best possible edge.

So what told you that you were almost there?

The only hone I fully maximize is the 1K after that I'm sneaking up to the best edge, I test often and as soon as I perceive improvement on a hone I move up so by the time I strop it's just right and not overhoned.

Without a shave test nor a microscope, how can one tell if the edge is overhoned?

I only have a loupe and a sensitive thumb, hmmz

Me too Tristan. There are a few things. The white line running parallel to the edge along the bevel is an indicator that I have gone too far. I’m not sure but I think that is the beginning of a fragile edge. Often if I have seen this at 30X and that edge never lasts lone. I may get one or several shaves from that edge, but never does it go to I can’t remember when I last honed this razor. I generally rotate razors once a week and shave around five or six times a week. It is a lot harder to get a strong, sharp and smooth edge than I had originally thought. That is my target though, that is the three things I think makes for a well honed razor.