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

Originally Posted by loueedacat

probably too many passes. not sure Maybe 100 passes (I don't really count). I'm confused because I read sometimes it's almost impossible to overhone, and watch the great LX video on a coticule where he uses tons of passes, but then others are very conservative on how many passes you should make. Also my other razors are doing great and I did as many passes on them.

And if I am overhoning on this one, should I back hone and try again?

IIRC Alex uses the coticule not only for finishing but also instead of lower grit hones whcih you can if you raise enough slurry. If your razor is almost there you should not need 100 passes on the coticule. And you should not go to the coticule if your razor isn't almost there either unless it is your only hone in which case you should check regularly where you are at. Although it is said you cannot overhone on a coticule it happened to me a couple of times. Going back to a coarser hone is the recommended thing to do. Basically overhoning is nothing more than crumbling of the edge when it becomes too thin. There's no reason why that cannot happen with a coticule. I think the risk of overhoning is one of the reasons behind the pyramids.

Some razors have softer steel and tend to become overhoned much earlier than other razors. You wrote your razor does not tug, that's why I felt your razor might be overhoned. Tugging is what usually happens if it is not sharp enough, an overhoned razor tends to skid over the stubble which explains in my view why you don't get a BBS shave.