Thread: Amazing Honing Video. WOW!!!

Joseph, nice video, clear well-lit shot with good audio.

You do not have to dull/joint the edge unless you are removing a small chip, and even then, it is not necessary but will speed up steel removal and get you to a straight edge quicker. I know you mentioned it, but for the sake of other watching the video or reading this.

You say you are concentrating on the heel, if you review the video and watch the heel, you will see the heel comes off the stone after about a ½ inch of travel, were the middle and toe of the razor are on the stone the whole time.

Keep the heel on the stone at least half the length of the stone then drop it off the edge more like a J, than an X stroke. You did this near the end of the video when you did some strokes slowly, but then went back to dropping the heel off quickly.

I notice a lot of folks say they don’t use the heel to shave, but I and many others do. I probably shave more with the heel than the toe. if you are Pro honing you must produce an edge that is completely honed. I do also use the very tip of the razor, so make sure the tip is well honed also.

The time for circles is at the very beginning of the honing process, especially if you have jointed or killed the edge. I do circles at the beginning of each stone. In a progression it will quickly remove the previous stones stria, then long smooth strokes will blend and refine the bevels and edge.

On a smiling edge you can do circles with pressure in 3 sections heel, middle and toe, 15-20 on each should be enough, and even rocking or rolling circles, the pressure shift is very slight.

Following with X strokes will blend the bevels evenly and get all the going stria in the same direction, which will give you better feedback on the next stone.

Ink will quickly tell you where you are making contact on the bevels with the naked eye. You also want to look at both sides, a slight warped will contact the stone very differently on each side. But looking at the bevels will not tell you if the bevels are meeting, only if you are honing to the edge. You can hone to the edge, but the bevels may still not meet. Magnification will tell you if you are really honing to the very edge and not just close to the edge.

If you do a hair test, do not do it over or near the stone and be sure to wipe the razor to remove any hair on the razor. A hair on the razor can bung up an edge by causing uneven pressure on the stone and making the edge dig into the stone.
It is more of an issue on the finishing stones, but one that can easily be avoided.

Looking at the edge, (straight down on the edge with magnification), for me is a quicker and more conclusive test of a fully set bevel. Hair test are very subjective, and the test sample is so small, a micron per test, (3 test 3 microns). You can look at the whole edge in a few seconds and it is a much more definitive test, any shiny reflections, the bevels are not meeting. Check the heel and toe especially.

The biggest mistake people make honing is not fully setting the bevels and getting them to meet along the whole edge, on a smiling edge it is a little more difficult to do but not if you approach it systematically and test the whole edge.

Nice work, keep at it.

Thanks for all the tips. I have been doing this for a long time and am confident in my process.
Circles and pressure are responsible for many problems imo.
All my blades are honed so often in ratio to use that they do not require bevel setting just a few strokes bring them back to life, in a bevel setting sense.
I will go over your detailed post again when I get home, I'm out n about at the moment.
Thanks for your support. Much appreciated

Originally Posted by Euclid440

Joseph, nice video, clear well-lit shot with good audio.

You do not have to dull/joint the edge unless you are removing a small chip, and even then, it is not necessary but will speed up steel removal and get you to a straight edge quicker. I know you mentioned it, but for the sake of other watching the video or reading this.

You say you are concentrating on the heel, if you review the video and watch the heel, you will see the heel comes off the stone after about a ½ inch of travel, were the middle and toe of the razor are on the stone the whole time.

Keep the heel on the stone at least half the length of the stone then drop it off the edge more like a J, than an X stroke. You did this near the end of the video when you did some strokes slowly, but then went back to dropping the heel off quickly.

I notice a lot of folks say they don’t use the heel to shave, but I and many others do. I probably shave more with the heel than the toe. if you are Pro honing you must produce an edge that is completely honed. I do also use the very tip of the razor, so make sure the tip is well honed also.

The time for circles is at the very beginning of the honing process, especially if you have jointed or killed the edge. I do circles at the beginning of each stone. In a progression it will quickly remove the previous stones stria, then long smooth strokes will blend and refine the bevels and edge.

On a smiling edge you can do circles with pressure in 3 sections heel, middle and toe, 15-20 on each should be enough, and even rocking or rolling circles, the pressure shift is very slight.

Following with X strokes will blend the bevels evenly and get all the going stria in the same direction, which will give you better feedback on the next stone.

Ink will quickly tell you where you are making contact on the bevels with the naked eye. You also want to look at both sides, a slight warped will contact the stone very differently on each side. But looking at the bevels will not tell you if the bevels are meeting, only if you are honing to the edge. You can hone to the edge, but the bevels may still not meet. Magnification will tell you if you are really honing to the very edge and not just close to the edge.

If you do a hair test, do not do it over or near the stone and be sure to wipe the razor to remove any hair on the razor. A hair on the razor can bung up an edge by causing uneven pressure on the stone and making the edge dig into the stone.
It is more of an issue on the finishing stones, but one that can easily be avoided.

Looking at the edge, (straight down on the edge with magnification), for me is a quicker and more conclusive test of a fully set bevel. Hair test are very subjective, and the test sample is so small, a micron per test, (3 test 3 microns). You can look at the whole edge in a few seconds and it is a much more definitive test, any shiny reflections, the bevels are not meeting. Check the heel and toe especially.

The biggest mistake people make honing is not fully setting the bevels and getting them to meet along the whole edge, on a smiling edge it is a little more difficult to do but not if you approach it systematically and test the whole edge.

Nice work, keep at it.

Got home and had a think about your advise.
It has made me realise that I should explain to the viewer that these are not instructional videos .
If the viewer can take some ideas from them then its all good but I cut a lot of corners because I know the razor and what im doing . Like honing with out magnification , well I know the blade and the stones really well , I could do it blindfolded.

I did try to make my language non instructional and more explanatory .
Thanks again for your write up.
Joseph
P.S popin hair over the stone, I was trying to show the camera , is my valid excuse

Shave Vid

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwA_IYEhUjw

Strop Vid

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2hOdOFMDdo