Thread: Honing a Diane D73

Greetings,

a Friend of mine was given a Diane D73 7/8 for Chrstmas. Knowing I use straight razors myself be brough it past today to have a look since he couldn't get it to shave at all and it is definitly NOT shave ready in the least. Simply glides over anything face or arm.
I've done the below progression on it twice including stropping and testing in between but can't get an egde to it.

Stroke - grit
15 - 4000
15 - 8000
10 - 4000
10 - 8000
5 - 4000
5 - 8000
3 - 4000
3 - 8000
1 - 4000
3 - 8000
1 - 4000
5 - 8000

I don't have any other stones avalible at this time. Can anyone offer some advise on how to hone this razor?

Im sorry to say this but...
To start with, go out and buy a 1k stone. Then set the bevel properly on a junk razor. Then hone on a 4k till its ready ro go on to 8k. Then strop. Test shave. Then when its still not ready, repeate ober and ober and over for a few months. When you ha e honed 50 to 100 times and can get a good edge on a few junk razors, then hone your buddies razor being sure to tell him that it might get better but you cant sware to it.

Honing takes many many many trys before you learn the first steps of what your doing. I recommend you have him send it to a pro honer and not take the chance of damaging the razor. Spine ware and toe ware is something that can happen easy if you dont know what your doing.

Im sorry my friend but razor honing is not as easy as sharpening a knife. Some times you het lucky. Most the time not.

Now you can cuss me for not having an easy answer for ya.

BTW, counting strokes on the stone means nothing. Its a feel.

Originally Posted by Neph

Greetings,

a Friend of mine was given a Diane D73 7/8 for Chrstmas. Knowing I use straight razors myself be brough it past today to have a look since he couldn't get it to shave at all and it is definitly NOT shave ready in the least. Simply glides over anything face or arm.
I've done the below progression on it twice including stropping and testing in between but can't get an egde to it.

Stroke - grit
15 - 4000
15 - 8000
10 - 4000
10 - 8000
5 - 4000
5 - 8000
3 - 4000
3 - 8000
1 - 4000
3 - 8000
1 - 4000
5 - 8000

I don't have any other stones avalible at this time. Can anyone offer some advise on how to hone this razor?

Hi Neph. Sorry to hear about you’re trouble. If I am reading this right it is a Diane razor that is made in Pakistan. If that part is correct it really don’t matter the stone. They are notorious for bad steel/temper. Even guys that have honed 10,000+ razors and have all the fancy stones won’t hone those because even if they can finagle an edge it doesn’t last even a whole Shave.

I have to agree with Jerry. Although it may be possible to set a bevel on a 4K stone, it is going to take hundreds of strokes to do so.

The key is getting a good bevel set on a 1000 or 1200 grit stone. If you want to hone razors from scratch rather than just refreshing a razor that already has a good bevel, you need a stone for that purpose.

If the bevel has been set properly at the 1K level, you should easily be able to shave hair off your arm. However, I am not suggesting you try to shave your face until it has been suitably polished with finer stones. The finer stones remove the 1K scratches and replace them with ever finer scratches.

If your beard is not too coarse, you might be able to shave using an edge honed to the 8K level, but many prefer going to an even finer finishing hone.

You can purchase a Norton 1K or Naniwa 1K specialty stone or Shapton 1K for around $50. A 1K Chosera professional stone will be more expensive.

I understand from other forum members that the 1K King stone that is available for around $25 is suitable for bevel setting, but I cannot confirm that personally.

Although some people have used cheaper Chinese hones for this purpose, most folks on the forum do not recommend them as little is known about their characteristics or their consistency.

If you want to go the inexpensive route, you can set a bevel using 1200 grit Silicon Carbide wet/dry sandpaper backed by flat glass or polished granite. The same setup also works for lapping hones, although in some instances you might need a coarser grit SiC to start.

I need to go back and read the names of those bad blades again. Thanks for pointing it out Steel.

The first result on amazon says that they are ground to have a 12deg bevel angle and that is very warped. Juat the fact that it is a $6 brand new razor does not give me hope that it will be a good shaver easily. Probably better off with a gold dollar, definitely better off with a inexpensive vintage.

It is possible to get a bevel set on a 4k, just be patient, sharpie the edge to ensure full contact and don't worry about lap count. It'll be done when it is done.

Before a pyramid method can work the edge must be set. Since you have little to no experience and only a 4/8k stone I see you struggling. Especially on a razor that is so inexpensive therefore low quality.

I would echo my friend dinner mint and say get a gold dollar and YouTube how to set a bevel on a Gold dollar. At least they can be made to shave comfortably. Can't say the same for the particular razor you are attempting to hone. The crappier the blade the harder it is to hone.

Good luck.