Thread: first time honing + questions

Personally, I don't think there's anything wrong with going back to the 4k if the 8k doesn't seem to be giving the results you seek in a reasonable number of strokes on the hone. I'm not currently able to play with a pyramid as I've not owned a Norton in some time, but it doesn't hurt necessarily to go a pass or two on the 4k then polish the work with several on the 8k, especially when one is pretty close, as it sounds you are. The razor should be shave ready off just the 8k and a strop if need be, if you are using the coticule afterwards with just plain water, perhaps try straight off the 8k, then successively more with your coticule.
I've honed up plenty of old ebay razors for myself and didn't need the 1200K stone. It can be done on a 4k, it just takes a while longer.
Hope this helps somewhat(?)


John P.

I would give your razor one more try on the 8K, use 15 laps, and the coticule with water, 50 laps then strop & test shave. You should note a slight improvement at a minimum. If that is not good enough then go back and do a conservative pyramid because your bevel is not yet set as it should be.

As has been mentioned already, the establishment of the bevel is critical. The bad part is that there is no objective test for it! The HHT is a good indicator but your getting close to over honed at that point so be careful.

I use a 1000 grit to remove nicks and old oxidised edges. I set the bevel with the Norton 4K. I stay with the 4/8 until the edge passes the HHT off the 8K. Then I move on to the finer grits.

One little update in my travel through honing:

I am actually touring the hairdressers on the road from my home to the University, to see if one or two of them are disposed to get rid of their ancient blades (sadly many throw them away years ago to use straight with disposable blades). One promised me one or two of his old blades, but couldn't manage to find them back. During one month, from time to time I kept the contact and finally, yesterday, he gave me four of them: a Friodur 5/8, two Dovo 5/8 and one 4/8 But, the Firodur had a strange red mark on one scale (like nail varnish) with a loose pivot pin and was quite dirty, one Dovo 5/8 had two chips on the blade, the other 5/8 is quite ok and the scales of the 4/8 are broken.

I decided to clean the Friodur: I sanded the inside of the scales, tighten the pin, cleaned the blade with Maas (it bears an etching saying Pronto Service Zurich) and tried to buffed the red mark... the Dremel is a wonderful tool but dangerous... I cut a little in the scale when putting to much pressure to get rid of that f*** mark, but not too bad I'll remember for the next time for sure.

So now, back to the topic:

I decided to hone this one before finishing the Royal Crown. I didn't follow the pyramid but spent some time on the 4K until the blade cuts arm hairs, and then went to the 8K and remembered what Bjorn said: I honed it gently and very carefully and when the water get over the blade instead of under, I stopped, stropped 80 strokes on the linen and 50 on leather and shaved this morning: I did it !!!

The shave was excellent on the cheeks where I could tighten easily the skin, a little less on the chin... so, this week-end I'll hone the Friodur on the coticule and get back with the RC to the hone and will try to use the same procedure as the one used for the Friodur.

Thanks a lot to everybody for the very good advices.

Originally Posted by joke1176

It really depends how bad the edge was. If it was similar to my usual ebay purchases, I use a DMT 1200.

Based on what you wrote, I think you spent too much time on the higher grit and not enough establishing a clean bevel first. Most razors should be able to cut hair by the time you finish on the 4k, then move to the higher grits.

It seems to be a pretty common mistake (based on what I have done and read here), that the newer honers jump to finer grits too early.

Hell, I still get impatient and "jump grits" sometimes, and sometimes it works.... but most times it just takes forever to get a shave sharp edge. Longer than it should really.

I'm not a honemeister, but I have about 20-ish razors I have restored, so take this advice with my relative inexperience in mind.

Totally bang-on - I couldn't agree more. Use a DMT 1200 and if necessary be quite brutal to re-establish the bevel and gain a clean edge - that hone alone should be able to take the edge to a state where it feels pretty sticky. Believe me - no clean edge, no shave-sharp razor without a LOT of work!After that it's the black art of refinement of said edge with the finer hones (they tell me the first five years is the worst.....!).

Originally Posted by blueprinciple

...After that it's the black art of refinement of said edge with the finer hones (they tell me the first five years is the worst.....!).

Black Art is right: The better I get, the more I rely on feel and intuition instead of TPT or HHT for finishing passes.

If I had a SEM I wouldn't need all that fuzzy logic...

Just curiosity, what have you used so far to try to get rid of that red mark?


John P.

First I tried to clean it by hands with Maas. I didn't get a very good result (it would have taken ages). I was a little afraid to use sandpaper and risk to scratch the scales so I used my Dremel with a Felt Polishing Wheel (414) and Maas. Unfortunately it was difficult to buff out and I used a little too much pressure on a spot (I was becoming impatient... very wrong)

I think that next time I'll try to use a fine grit sandpaper, maybe it'll work better without the risk to cut in the scales (I need to buy some for a resto)

And it is a honing success!! The Royal Crown and the Friodur were actually honed to shave ready! (not as good as those I have honed by Lynn, but these two are the first honed by me and I am quite happy) I shaved my two passes with them this morning.

Thanks a lot to you all who helped me during my first travel through honing; this was an excellent experience that I really enjoyed. Now, I'm hooked.

Good Job...
There is a great satisfaction the first time you shave successfully with your first self honed razor.....

Good job, it's a wonderful feeling getting your first razor shave ready......