Thread: issues honing Fillarmonica - baby smooth, no tugging, but not close

You shaved 12 times and then the problems started? That sounds like a rolled edge from incorrect stropping to me. Unless 12 shaves is about the max you get from your other razors.
You have none of the indicators of an overhoned edge. An over honed edge is "spotty" and grabs and skip's. Some parts of the edge are to thin but it is seldom the full length of the edge and stropping will not make go overhoned, usually.

If you did roll the edge and extensive stropping did not fix it then you need to go back to a coarser hone and re-establish the bevel. Then work your way back up the grit ladder.

The Fillys do require some work but are not that bad to hone. I have 3 of the #14's. They are easier to hone than a Henckels Fridour or TI!

Just my two cents,

You also mentioned that the razor had a big "smile" shape to the edge.
Be sure to use a rolling X stroke to hone it.

Randy, thanks. Is there a good grahic of the rolling X? I think I can visualize what that would like and tried to do it, but would be interested in seeing it done right. Did the heavydutysquire video have that maybe?

I do normally need to do something beyond stropping after 12 shaves, so I wasn't surprised a needed to touch up at that point. Ie my 11 th shave just stropping was great, my 12th felt a little dulll, so I went to coticule (which I'm new with) and touched up, and it didn't feel dull like it did before touching up and in fact was smooth as heck but just didn't cut well. So maybe I rollled my edge stopping before shave 12 and didn't realize it, or maybe when I touched up (with eight million passes, including slurry) I actually dulled it and lost some of the finish I had had from before.

I don't think I overhoned, so thanks for putting meat around my gut feeling. I've overhoned with pasted strops and when that happens it isn't super smooth like this has been.

Whatever I did, sounds like i need to get a courser stone and try to reset the bevel and go from there.

Originally Posted by loueedacat

Is there a good grahic of the rolling X?

There is a 9-part honing video on youtube made by an SRP honemeister:

YouTube - tonycoronado's Channel

He covers the rolling X at the end.

Originally Posted by randydance062449

You shaved 12 times and then the problems started? That sounds like a rolled edge from incorrect stropping to me. Unless 12 shaves is about the max you get from your other razors.
You have none of the indicators of an overhoned edge. An over honed edge is "spotty" and grabs and skip's. Some parts of the edge are to thin but it is seldom the full length of the edge and stropping will not make go overhoned, usually.

If you did roll the edge and extensive stropping did not fix it then you need to go back to a coarser hone and re-establish the bevel. Then work your way back up the grit ladder.

I wonder if I rolled the edge on the coticule. I was just remembering that I had a lot of trouble keeping the Fillarmonica flat on the 2X6 hone at first because it's really big/heavy and has the smile, so maybe I blunted it trying to keep it flat right on the hone. Which again would mean time to go coarser, which means time to order that blue and DMT 1200 from Howard that I wasn't planning to buy for a while.

One other question: if it was originally finished with chrome oxide (I don't know what Lynn did, but whatever he did it was great), is there any chance just touching up with a coticule would dull things because the chrome ox and coticule have different effects on the bevel?

If you rolled the edge on the coticule I'm shocked that you used it 12 times and then it started to pull

But I'm easily shocked, too

Originally Posted by hoglahoo

If you rolled the edge on the coticule I'm shocked that you used it 12 times and then it started to pull

But I'm easily shocked, too

I mangled the story:

1. I bought it new from classic and had Lynn hone it before I got it.

2. I used it 11 times and got great shaves, just stropping.

3. 12th shave it tugged a little, so I went to coticule.

4. After coticule, it's been baby smooth, does not pull, but takes four passes to get an ok shave. So I'm thinking I somehow dulled it on the coticule rather than overhoned it.

The Coticule without a slurry is ~10K and the chromium oxide is significantly finer. I cannot recall the exact size, but I want to say it is .5 micron which roughly translates to 60K. So it makes sense that you don't feel that the edge is as sharp as it was.

Also, remember that different honing mediums cut in different ways - an edge finished with .5 diamond paste might feel sharper because the edge is rougher than the .5 chromium oxide finished edge.