Thread: First Honing Experience (Honemeisters please critique)

I've got a really fine "beard," are you saying that if I don't polish as much I'd get a better shave? I've got a D8C and a D8EE and a 12K. Should I polish with the 12k less?


I'm working on a blade right now, to see what happens.

Originally Posted by chem_fun

I've got a really fine "beard," are you saying that if I don't polish as much I'd get a better shave? I've got a D8C and a D8EE and a 12K. Should I polish with the 12k less?


I'm working on a blade right now, to see what happens.

I can't say. My point was that we ALL must learn to hone OUR OWN razors to match our beards.For me,a blade that is scary sharp and doesn't receive ALOT of fine polishing does indeed cut my beard easily-BUT causes irritation.I know what works for me. Will it work for you.

Another issue is determining where your skill level is with the Str8. If you a confident in your skills and can get a really good shave with a "known shave ready" razor then I think you can adjust your honing skills to match your face. Without good shaving technique-there are more variables. I hope that makes sense?

Ain't this FUN?

Lt. Arclight (cool handle BTW) is correct. Honing tips are guidelines more than rules...just as with shaving. What cuts my beard may leave your face looking like you've been slapped repeatedly.....my goal is to fine tune my blades so I get consistently smooth shaves. That is my goal before working toward "honemeister-dom".

Originally Posted by chem_fun

Should I polish with the 12k less?

That's just something that comes with experience. I, for one, can't do enough polishing on the blades I use.

At one time I had quite a bit of difficulty figuring out what kind of edge fit for my needs; an edge polished with a good coticule does a decent job, most Thuringers are as good, some are better, man-made hones are terrible (haven't tried the Shaptons), pastes aren't really anything special, and the Japanese stones just never cease to amaze me.

So you'll just have cast a few lines and see what bites (or doesn't), so to speak.

"Scary" sharp -vs- Comfortable
I am not sure that these are mutually exclusive....
Each type, brand, and grind of razor each has a different feel on the face, but sharp is sharp..... Different razors are also capable of different levels of sharpness
Just so long as you are not taking the edge to an over-honed condition and creating micro serrations, or a wire edge, the shave should be smooth...
Now whether that particular razor feels comfortable to yer face is where opinion comes in... (thank god there are so many different styles of razors)

Just my 2 pennies

Hmmm. Great thread. Rather than trying to hone my father-in-laws razor and chew up my face like I did this morning. I have a wapi (kenrup) and a DA (stamps222). Should I get more DA's to practice with. I ask this, because if I'm getting a "good" shave with the wapi and it appears I'll get a good shave with the DA, I should try to hone a piece of steel that I know works for my face and try to mimic the edge. My goal would be to do this all while I have a blade that's usable, rather than screwing up a blade and having to send it to someone else and then be without a straight. It would defeat the purpose if I had to go back to my Fusion. DON'T want to do that.

Respectfully,
but frankly, I have to disagree with a few things posed in this thread.

I agree that there are many different razors, and we all have our preferences for size, weight, grind and balance. It is also clear to me that a honing paradigm that works well for one razor, may not yield the same results on another. However small the difference in raw sharpness, the influence on the shaving results may be quite dramatic. But what I don't agree with, is that different people are supposed to have a different appreciation for the raw shaving power of an edge. Oh yes, some people will settle for "will do", while others tend to be fanatic about "wiping the whiskers off". Some people emphasize on longevity more than on ultra-keenness. Some people are used to put some extra pressure on a less keen edge, and may have a few nicks after a first (and a second) shave with a sharper edge. BUT: I have the luck to find myself locally surrounded by a few straight shaving enthusiasts, with whom I regularly meet for a honing and shaving night. I have exchanged razors and talked about how they shaved more than a few times. In fact, I'm engaged in a shaving experiment right now, honing 8 identical razors with different honing recipes (There's a tread about it on SRP). All that first hand experience tells me that different people have strikingly similar appreciations for any given edge.
We may all expect different things for a razor edge's performance, and some of us might even have accepted certain results, but I guarantee you that if you would ask people to judge over the shaving quality of 3 identical, but differently honed razors, they would all rate the the same razor as best and a same other as worst, unless the quality of edges would be so close within the same range, that it would be impossible to differentiate between them.

About sharpness and smoothness: in my opinion, there certainly is some interconnection between those two, but they are not opposed to eachother. In my experience so far, mostly edges that lack some keeness often also are inclined to cause post-shave irritation. Maybe due to an increased number of strokes, and perhaps also increased pressure and even cutting angle, all in order to get decent shaving results from a less than decent edge.

Best regards,
Bart.

Bart, great points, I agree with nearly all of it. And I'm definitely looking forward to your test results.

I'd just like to say that my experience with natural stones vs. artificial hones is that the grit in artificial hones almost always leaves the edge a little unpleasant, as compared to a "similar grit" natural stone. The same goes for diamond paste and CrO powder; .5 micron diamond paste feels sharper than CrO (also .5 micron) but the CrO is smoother.

So while sharpness and smoothness can go hand in hand (i.e. Nakayama or CrO), sometimes they just don't, and only experience will sort out what is "second best" if the best options are not available.

Originally Posted by Russel Baldridge

Bart, great points, I agree with nearly all of it. And I'm definitely looking forward to your test results.

Thanks, Russel. An update, with detailed test results is coming up within just a few days.

Originally Posted by Russel Baldridge

I'd just like to say that my experience with natural stones vs. artificial hones is that the grit in artificial hones almost always leaves the edge a little unpleasant, as compared to a "similar grit" natural stone. The same goes for diamond paste and CrO powder; .5 micron diamond paste feels sharper than CrO (also .5 micron) but the CrO is smoother.

Since I'm only using man made hones for low level bevel work (mostly DMT1200), I 'll take your word for it. I guess that's the reason why CaptainZero polishes his Shapton16K edges with a coticule, right?

Originally Posted by Russel Baldridge

So while sharpness and smoothness can go hand in hand (i.e. Nakayama or CrO), sometimes they just don't, and only experience will sort out what is "second best" if the best options are not available.

I fully agree.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

"Scary" sharp -vs- Comfortable
I am not sure that these are mutually exclusive....
Each type, brand, and grind of razor each has a different feel on the face, but sharp is sharp..... Different razors are also capable of different levels of sharpness
Just so long as you are not taking the edge to an over-honed condition and creating micro serrations, or a wire edge, the shave should be smooth...
Now whether that particular razor feels comfortable to yer face is where opinion comes in... (thank god there are so many different styles of razors)

Just my 2 pennies

This is a interesting discussion. Your point concerning Scary sharp and comfortable is well taken. The fact that we have so many different ideas and take so many different roads to get to the same "destination"is what really fascinates me about trying to achieve the perfect shaving edge.

One thing we haven't touched on is the actual blade material. I just purchased a Wacker Inox and have been getting it shave ready. This razor has really challenged me. The steel is remarkably hard and really demands alot of work. This is my first Wacker, I am impressed with it so far-I have it shave ready ie, SCARY sharp- I'm going to give it a try as soon as I'm off this box.