Thread: Is honing really that difficult?

Originally Posted by cudarunner

Insane? Nope.

My standard advice is to wait a year before attempting to learn to hone (I did an I'm glad I waited). As a former meat cutter I'll tell you the difference between honing a razor and sharpening a kife is black and with--day and night.

There are many advantages to having your razor honed by someone who know what they are doing. The biggest is that when the time comes to honing your own you'll have a gauge to judge your work by.

When I was learning I sent razors off to a Pro and asked that he use the same hones that I did and NO Pasted Strops. That was one of the best investments I've made.

Poor stropping can damage an edge and a hone can destroy an edge if you don't know what you're doing. The best case senerio is to find someone local with experience honing. The second best is to not learn to actually 'hone' but to maintain your edge. That's were a 12K comes in or even a decent Barber Hone.

The most important thing to have to learn this age old art is patience. If you absolutely have to start buying hones, start high with a 12K or such and see if you actually improve your edge, if not, well you'll have learned a bit.

There's a member here who I have helped and his question about learning to hone was "It's just sharpening, Right"? He found out there is quite a bit to learn. I still like to kid him about that overly simplified statement.

Enjoy the ride, it's a long strange trip but well worth the journey.

Thanks. So, is that member now a honemeister?

Originally Posted by Badgerstate

Thanks. So, is that member now a honemeister?

He's working on it.

I'm sure he'll tell you that getting hands on help was of Great Help.

Honing is a deceptively simple act. By that I mean it is simple only if you know what you are doing. To get to that point just have to be prepared for some amount of frustration as the learning curve is/can be pretty steep.

Sounds like you have the right idea to start honing on razors that you won't mind messing up as you learn. Save working on expensive new razors till you really know what you are doing.

Personally, I'd stay with synthetic hones over naturals as they are easier to learn on being very consistent as to their grit ratings. I like and use Naniwa hones in a progression of 1K, 3K, 8K and finish on a 12K. A DMT 325 is good for lapping hones. An optical loupe and a strong light source are valuable for checking on the progress you are or are not making. Again it will take a while till you know what you are looking at/for.

Most razors are not absolutely perfect especially well used vintage ones. You will have to learn to see these defects and learn to deal with them. Some are not easy to see at first glance, like uneven grinds, warped/twisted blades, bent tangs and the like. It is all part it being easy till it isn't.

Have fun and enjoy the new experience.

Bob

It is not difficult at all. It is challenging and can be frustrating though so if you love to sharpen things and are up to a challenge jump in and hone them up like you own them. You will “get it” just like everyone else here has.

Well said, Bob. +1 To that.

+1 Steel

Not hard at all. A steady hand, a practice razor you wouldn’t mind damaging, practice, patience. I now have 22 razors. Some are quality new, some NOS, some vintage in good shape; and now 6 Gold Dollar razor I use as practice razors. All have excellent edges that I put on them. I’m now at both sr shaving and honing 2.5 years. Started both at the same time. Don’t wait. Life is too short whether you’re 20 or a 120.

Take a look at this:

http://straightrazorpalace.com/begin...ary-diary.html

Originally Posted by Badgerstate

Thanks. So, is that member now a honemeister?

In my opinion.... nope! Not even close. Ha. Sense Roy wont say it, i will. Hes talking about me.
One of my issues in learning to hone is i get one day a week, if im lucky, when im not in the truck. So its hell on learning. Honing is something you need to do often to learn. If i could do a few hours day after day then what i learn one day wont slip away two weeks later when i get a chance to do it again.

Its only sharppening. Ok Roy. I admit. Your right my friend. Its not sharpenning at all!!! I hate when your right so often.

But as its been said, 8f you want to learn, go for it. Sometimes you het lucky. But frustration is the hardest part. Be sure you have a couple pro honed razors on hand and dont put those on the stone. Keep for referance. Hone others and compare often. Start with refreshing on a 12k or the likes. I also recommend the synthetic stones like Bob.

You can do it. Its just something that will take a long time before it right every time. But it is recommended again by most, to learn to shave, strop and build lather first before thinking about honing.

Honing a straight is fairly difficult and takes patience and concentration. One thing I'll say is make sure you get hones that are fairly unanimously approved of here on the forum if you're thinking about taking up the "hobby".
Don't be fooled by the Amazon Specials. Stick to the brand named synthetics and/or well-known naturals until you have mastered a few naturals. That would be my advice, to set yourself up for success from the start.

Is honing really that difficult?

Not to put you off. It's worth learning how but just google all the threads asking for honing help then google all the threads that say honing is easy.
That will answer your question

Difficult one to comment on, I can only really summarize my experience.

I started honing by following the "Pyramid Instructions" in the library here.
I have never had an issue with it. It seemed and still does seem, extremely simple.

On the other hand, I have only ever really honed blades already honed by people who are experienced at honing, that is to say maintenance.

I have also only ever bought one used razor, which was very old (purchased from the classifieds here), and that was just so sharp and comfortable that I then questioned my honing.

The short and long of it is, that I have been using straight razors, exclusively for 6 years, shaving 5 or 6 days a week and have never sent a razor anywhere for honing, after the initial purchase.

I have literally never sharpened anything before that, not even a penknife. But I did work as engineer (hands on) for many years, maybe one becomes proficient using hand tools and that carries over ?

So in the end, I guess I have to say that I have found it to be pretty simple.

But I also do not clout the tap (faucet) with my razors (though I did manage to ding one on my front teeth, luckily the teeth are made of zirconium), neither do I cut the strop in half.