Thread: Abrasive files

If you want to try a narrow stone use sandpaper for the lower grits and lapping film for the higher grits. I have used srips 1" X 8" to sharpen a razor. The sandpaper or film was placed on a piece of plate glass.

Originally Posted by Gasman

I use this type of honing also when it's needed. It just takes practice like anything else we do. The narrow stone is really not needed.

I know that there are other options and I have used others but it was more a question of whether anyone used very narrow stones for that purpose. Having tried it after I posted the question it seems like it would be so much work keeping the blade flat you might as well use another method with a wider stone.

Originally Posted by PaulFLUS

I know that there are other options and I have used others but it was more a question of whether anyone used very narrow stones for that purpose. Having tried it after I posted the question it seems like it would be so much work keeping the blade flat you might as well use another method with a wider stone.

I do, occasionally. I've got one of those 1"x5" Celebrated Water Hones that you see all over Ebay and Etsy; essentially, it's a narrow dark blue Escher. It will put a super-smooth edge on a warped, smiling Sheffield with a series of slurry dilutions. I wouldn't say I "need" it, but I wanted an Escher, and that's all the Escher real estate I could afford at the time. I mostly save it for problem Sheffields that I'm not quite getting there with on one of my Arks. It does take a little more attention to keeping the blade flat on the stone, which seems to work best for me on my sink bridge because it's higher and closer to me.

That said, with the right rolling-X stroke (really more of a parabolic windshield wiper stroke the way I do it), I can do essentially the same thing even on my 4x14 Arkie if I keep an eye on the wave. That imaginary inch (or real if you pencil it in with a straight edge) is a good trick for focusing on the middle of your hone.

With practice it becomes like most other honing steps; eventually your hands just know to do it, and you don't have to think about it (my favorite kind of honing-I think LHT and I are alike in that regard).

I have an abrasive sister in law. Will that work?

Originally Posted by CrescentCityRazors

I have an abrasive sister in law. Will that work?

Hey, I have one of those also!