Thread: DOUBLE CHEESE BURGER FOR THOUGHT - OMG Edge Trailing!

Tim’s recent post. (How effective is clean fabric?) and the clear micrographs posted, show the effects of stropping and pressure on the edge and brought up some thoughts on honing.

Its all about the pressure.

The micrographs show how edge trailing (stropping) puts most of the pressure on the trailing edge. Notice how half the fine stria at the edge has been removed in 40 lite laps on plain linen.

So, what happens on a stone?

When honing,(edge leading) the same thing happens, more pressure is put on the back of the bevel, not the leading edge. Yes, you can torque the razor and even out pressure to the leading side, (edge) of the blade. But on hollow ground razors it is probably easier than most think to flex the blade and lift the edge off the stone, compounding the issue, we are talking microns here.

Now, I am referring to finishing stones, as aggressive low grit stones grind the bevel flat mostly, and are used with more pressure, Finish stones are not as aggressive. A lot is technique driven.

This is easily tested, with sharpie ink, an often-overlooked definitive test. You are removing ink at the edge, or not. Colored ink is much easier to see with the naked eye, I use red, blue and green. Red is the easiest to see, I will often change colors, so as not to have to remove ink from a blade. WD40 on a paper towel will easily remove sharpie ink.

Having delved deep into finishing with Jnats, I turned to honing videos by long time Japanese finishers, of which there are many good old videos, Looking at traditional Jnat razor honing, many of these videos are not in English, but does not matter for viewing technique. Edge trailing is a common finishing technique, just a couple finish laps. I have adopted this for final finishing strokes on all stones in addition to stropping between stones as part of my honing routine to ensure the best finish on the edge at each stone. It’s all about the edge.

When used as a finish stroke in a progression, raising a burr is less of an issue, stropping between stones, lessens the burr potential even further. In progression, the next stone, edge leading will cut off any remaining burr.

It can be an issue for final finish strokes, if too much pressure or too many strokes are used, yes stropping can remove them, but it breaks off the burr as opposed to a clean cut from a stone. So, the trick is just a couple lite final finish strokes and not make a bur

If you are having edge issues honing, this is just something to try, and it may make you pay a little more attention to what is happening to the edge.

And it all can easily be reversed, by lightly jointing the edge with one stroke and 15-20 laps on the finish stone will bring the edge right back.

Your thoughts?


1st off the hone.


2nd off flax linen, look at the edge.