Thread: Using loupe for honing

Thanks for advice. The biggest problem I find is getting the light at the right angle to see things clearly, but I think I have the idea.

Do all the striations need to be in the same direction from each grit?

Euclid440 said on one post to make the last 10 strokes on the 8K at 90* to edge. What is the reason for this?

How much magnification you need is personal, I believe more is better.

You want to look for 1. damage, chips and cracks, 2. Is the stria reaching the edge, often heels and toes do not. If the stria is not to the edge, you are not honing a new edge and need to adjust your technique or stroke. 3. Are you removing the previous grit’s deep stria. 4. Are the bevels meeting, look straight down on the edge, any shiny reflections, the bevels are not yet meeting.

Colored Sharpie ink will quickly tell you if you are honing to the edge with minimal magnification or naked eye quickly.

The goal of a progression is to remove the previous grits stria with each progression of grit stone and straighten the edge. Alternating the final strokes from the previous grit will tell you if you have removed the previous grit stria. EG. Straight 1k, angled 4k and on.

I use 30,60 and 100X lighted magnifiers, they are inexpensive 2-15 dollars.

Not to offend anyone, but magnification impeded my growth into honing, by making me focus too much on "scratch patterns" and not enough on the technique of honing with consistent pressure and direction. Worse, I never really have understood what I'm looking for!

It created a worry for me, much like the thumb pad test or hanging hair test, which really mean nothing and can hurt a good edge.

I've moved to hone...shave....see whaat it feels like, hone a little more or differently. I understand the science, but I think it is equally art and feel, and for me magnification gets in the way of feeling the edge with my face.

Originally Posted by Haroldg48

Not to offend anyone, but magnification impeded my growth into honing, by making me focus too much on "scratch patterns" and not enough on the technique of honing with consistent pressure and direction. Worse, I never really have understood what I'm looking for!

It created a worry for me, much like the thumb pad test or hanging hair test, which really mean nothing and can hurt a good edge.

I've moved to hone...shave....see whaat it feels like, hone a little more or differently. I understand the science, but I think it is equally art and feel, and for me magnification gets in the way of feeling the edge with my face.

I don’t know how focusing on the scratch patterns takes away from your technique Harold. It seems to me that one would follow the other - I mean you can’t have a good technique if your scratch patterns are all messy! And you can’t have good scratch patterns if your technique is off. Which leads me to believe that you don’t understand the science...

Of course I’ve always maintained there was voodoo involved in honing a straight, so look at me calling the kettle black lol!

I never used more than 10X.
I want to send hairs flying and see a gleam!

I agree, I don’t understand the science, or art. If I try to judge my edges by looking at them under 30x, I’d never shave, because i’m obsessive. So I hone some, until it feels smooth on the stone, and then shave.

It’s my own voodoo! I’m clearly just a bad honer and am making an excuse. Tom or Glenn have honed most of mine and they last for years. But I’m nor a collector or restorer. I shave with every blade I own, some more ( and better) than others.

Originally Posted by Haroldg48

I agree, I don’t understand the science, or art. If I try to judge my edges by looking at them under 30x, I’d never shave, because i’m obsessive. So I hone some, until it feels smooth on the stone, and then shave.

It’s my own voodoo! I’m clearly just a bad honer and am making an excuse. Tom or Glenn have honed most of mine and they last for years. But I’m nor a collector or restorer. I shave with every blade I own, some more ( and better) than others.

I hear you... I’m not quite sure if I can hone worth a darn either. All I know is I can hone well enough to get me to my pastes lol. And that’s good enough for me.

A 10x? For my money I might as well squint really hard. I use a 200x microscope. Now the next thing is that those who own really professional and high quality microscopes will tell you that there is a level of optic quality that is hardly the same. I’m not going to argue otherwise or even debate these questions of optics. All I will tell you is tha MY eye needs something much stronger than 10x or even 30x. Whatever I get from my 200x works for ME. When I look through it I’m looking at stiria in the early stages and the edge in the later stages. I’m looking for a clean edge. But I’m also used to knowing what to expect at each grit. When I get to the highest grits. The edge will be harder to even see as it appears to drop off into the abyss. People will tell you that there is a right level of magnification. But I think it’s like the HHT. It’s all relative. And it means different things to different people. Don’t let anyone tell you the limits of what should work for you.

My hat's off to anyone who can consistently hone by sound or feel alone. I say honing is like trading the stock market.
The more tools & indicators you can use, the more likely you will succeed. Rely on just one & results are heavily influenced by luck..

I'm more a visual learner but scratches & stria mean little unless they are causing chips in the edge. This can also be the fault of the razor but it is more likely to happen at 1k. Get that bevel set clean as possible & the rest is usually smooth sailing, again, dependent on the razor.

The need for good optical quality applies to loupes as well as microscopes. An optically good low powered triplet loupe with low distortion and coated lenses is not inexpensive. There are loupes and then there are loupes.

For me a low powered good quality loupe is enough to get the job done to my satisfaction. Higher magnification is alright once you have learned to hone. I say that because of the number of threads on this forum from beginners to honing using high magnification that appear to be driving themselves crazy by trying for perfection at high magnification. Seems like there are too many imperfections seen at high magnification that mean nothing to getting a good shaving edge. Anyway, that is just my impression of using high magnification at the start of a honing career.

Bob