Thread: This is going to get some attention I bet

Okay I have never honed a straight razor and I don't intend to for sometime. Let me also say I haven't shaved with a straight razor either but mine is on the way and it is shave ready. So my question is this and it is probably going to get a lot of attention I have sharpened many knives in my day and I have had great success in doing so, that said I know a razor is a bit different. My question is would a lansky hone system that clamps the blade in a clamp and offers a guide for the hone at a specific angle work for honing a razor? Why or Why not? Just curious as like I said I don't plan on honing anytime soon, but if the situation arose and lansky would work I think I would be qualified to do so on my own rather than having to buy another razor and send the first one off to be honed. Thanks in advance for your comments.

A lansky has a good reputation for sharpening kitchen knifes and tools alike. I don't own one myself, but I 'm almost sure the hones on a Lansky are not fine enough to obtain the highly polished edge a straight razor needs. Secondly, a straight razor doesn't need some jig to keep the honing angle constant, because a straight has to be placed flat on the hone. Due to the hollow grind, it has a factory-set honing angle, that's always dead on. The Lansky excels in dealing with the constant angle problem on regular knifes, but it completely looses that advantage with a straight razor.
You'd be better of spending some time with a suitable combination of regular hones for honing up a straight razor.

Have fun with that shaveready razor when it arrives,

Bart.

Originally Posted by Bart

A lansky has a good reputation for sharpening kitchen knifes and tools alike. I don't own one myself, but I 'm almost sure the hones on a Lansky are not fine enough to obtain the highly polished edge a straight razor needs.

I do own a Lansky (and many other systems ) and the finest hones in the series "probably" are fine enough (though I've never tried them on a straight). But as Bart says, the angle "advantage" is lost on a straight and the hones themselves are pretty small to hone a straight razor. I'm sure it could be done in a pinch but it wouldn't be something I'd try if I didn't have to You would use only the hones, though. Not the guide or the rods, just the stones.

Ken

I have a lansky diamond hone system and I did try using it on a straight. Forget it. The razor is clamped down and the hone is set at an angle but it can still flop around and you have to try and maintain the proper pressure from hone to blade which is impossible holding the hone over the blade. The kit I had had a 1200 mesh diamond as the finest and that is too rough for finishing a razor and the hones are too narrow.

The spine of the razor sets the angle for you.

Don't forget the sharpest knife is about as sharp as a really dull razor.

That 1,200 mesh Bigspendur mentions as being the finest in the Lansky system is a little rougher than what I use to get big chips out out of a razor. A fine finishing razor hone is more in the 12,000 mesh range.

The advice I give to all knife guys when they try to sharpen razors is forget everything you know about sharpening because these are razors not knives.

I pretty much had figured that was the case but I thought I would get some feedback to be sure. I have 2 wap blades coming and I will probably try to hone one myself with a different hone that I have and send one off for a professional to hone. Since they are going to be identical I will mark the one I hone as experiment so I don't get them accidentally mixed up. Thanks for all the input.
Kevin