Thread: Is honing really that difficult?

The razors are designed in such a way that they can be easily honed.
I learned how to hone my own razors reading the forum here, watching some videos and buying hones that are recommended by signor members of SRP.
While I find straight razor honing easy for new razors and demanding but feasible for old and worn razors, I find knife honing extremely difficult.

I hone regularly all my razors, even the most old and difficult, and I am very happy with the result, but I have never been able to hone decently any of my knives. I find it impossible to find the exact angle that is required for the particular blade I am honing and I cannot maintain the same angle unchanged while I am honing. I cannot understand how expert Japanese chefs hone to perfection their own knives using our same water hones.
Finally, after years of tries and fails, I acknowledged defeat. I admitted that I am not able to hone a knife on my razor water stones and I bought the lansky sharpening system, which holds the angle stable, but it never gives me a razor-sharp or a chef-sharp edge.

Originally Posted by 32t

Just random numbers I am thinking.....

I think no one would argue that it would take the average person a year to learn how to shave well. 365 shaves.

If you are honing for yourself only that would mean you would hone on an average every 3 months over that time to be good.

365/4=91.5 years.

You would have to live a long life only honing your own to become an expert.

365/4=91.5 years

Is it really the case that one fourth of one year equals 91.5 years?

It is no wonder then that time sometimes seems to progress so slowly.

Originally Posted by Badgerstate

Hello all. So, now that Ive gotten into straights, Im looking into honing. Now, Ive read a lot of people who say that you should leave honing to the pros but Ive watched a bunch of Youtube videos on it and honestly, it doesnt look that difficult.
So, now Im looking into getting a 220/1000 stone, 4000/8000 stone, 12000 stone and a lapping stone. At first, I was only going to get a 4000/8000 stone but then I read that you want the 1000 to set the bevel and want the 12000 for final polishing.
Am I absolutely insane for wanting to learn honing? I mean, it just doesnt look that difficult and it seems kind of silly to send my razors out for honing when I could just do it myself.
Thoughts?

I've been at it for about 8 months. It sounds like you are like many of us who want to own the entire process. I encourage you to do so. There is much good advice already given. By all means have a reference razor to judge your work. By all means learn how to properly strop before learning to hone. But in the end, honing is not magic. Trial and error will allow anyone with the will and some patience, to hone successfully.

BTW THE Badger State is located just to the north of me.....Wisconsin. A slice of heaven and where I was raised.

Originally Posted by ace

365/4=91.5 years

Is it really the case that one fourth of one year equals 91.5 years?

It is no wonder then that time sometimes seems to progress so slowly.

If you need to hone your blades 4 times a year it would take you 91.5 years to hone your blade 365 times. Which is how many times you could easily shave in a year.

I hope that makes my point clearer.

Originally Posted by Slur

I cannot understand how expert Japanese chefs hone to perfection their own knives using our same water hones.
Finally, after years of tries and fails, I acknowledged defeat. I admitted that I am not able to hone a knife on my razor water stones and I bought the lansky sharpening system, which holds the angle stable, but it never gives me a razor-sharp or a chef-sharp edge.

They hone a lot on one side, sometimes making multi bevels & then blending them into one smooth, usually convex bevel. Uses up much more steel than honing a razor

Originally Posted by 32t

If you need to hone your blades 4 times a year it would take you 91.5 years to hone your blade 365 times. Which is how many times you could easily shave in a year.

I hope that makes my point clearer.

That it does, and it explains why I have so many razors. But 365/4=91.25, not 91.5, and that difference will allow me to finish my honing journey more quickly. On the other hand, to your point, how helpful will eliminating three months be? I'll be too old to remember how to hone a razor or even where I put the darn thing last time I honed it. But at least I won't have to hone just in leap years.

Originally Posted by ace

That it does, and it explains why I have so many razors. But 365/4=91.25, not 91.5, and that difference will allow me to finish my honing journey more quickly. On the other hand, to your point, how helpful will eliminating three months be? I'll be too old to remember how to hone a razor or even where I put the darn thing last time I honed it. But at least I won't have to hone just in leap years.

I am thinking what is necessary and more than what is needed. You can hone your razor every week if you want but is that what is needed? Many of us here are collectors and justify our tools that way.

One razor and all these tools to support it makes it uneconomical. If you want to great!

When I buy tires for my truck I get "free" rotation... I don't ever do it because I have the tools and the ability to do it in less than one quarter of the time that I sit in the waiting room of the shop and I know what is done. I have the tools and the ability.

Is that why people took to the DE razors? They didn't have the tools and the ability to do it themselves and they didn't want to hire someone else to do it for them?

Practice makes perfect and many times the biggest secret is secret because it is easy and most people could do it themselves......

Many here share their "secrets".

In this line of thought. IF i had only 5 or 6 razors, already had learned to shave properly without damaging my razors edges from stropping and such, id pay someone once a year to hone them and be done with it. Best edge possible equals the best shaves.
But i like to buy razors and restore so i need stones.

I enjoy the honing process almost as much as the shaving.

Originally Posted by 32t

Just random numbers I am thinking.....

I think no one would argue that it would take the average person a year to learn how to shave well. 365 shaves.

If you are honing for yourself only that would mean you would hone on an average every 3 months over that time to be good.

365/4=91.5 years.

You would have to live a long life only honing your own to become an expert.

As I sit here smoking some Happy Bogie in a Ser Jacopo contemplating your comparison I am reminded by my own experience that the complete opposite is also true. My very first time honing, I touched up a Dovo on an inexpensive Chinese Guangxi stone and it was a huge success. My third hone job was a Gold Dollar that I honed without an issue using synthetic knife stones and the Guangxi. My “benchmark” edge that I used for a comparison was a Double Edge razor blade. Although I was not to that level yet I was well on my way and obtaining comfortable shaves. I had the odd razor with geometry issues that puzzled me and forced me to grow but all in all my journey was dominated by success. Is that unusual? You would think so by the number of posts made by people asking for help vs those that tout success but maybe that is not totally accurate either. I mean, the forum is here to help those with issues so of course you will have more people posting their honing problems than not. Also, the “hone of the day” thread is full of success stories.
Honing is challenging but I don’t think it is accurate to say it takes the average person over 90 years to learn the skill.