Thread: around the heel

I have honed three razors some one gave to play with.All three when i am reastablishing the bevel in x pattern seem to develop realy nice right towards the toe and middle but the heel seems to take for ever unless i actualy tip the razor towards the heel then i found the bevel starts to develope. I have applied black marker to the razor and it is clear the heel is not contacting my stone because the ink is still on my heel of razor i've flaternd my 1k norton checked it is flat and it is perfect. Should i just keep honing untill the ink disapears i don't like the idea of raising blade and don't no if it is the right thing to be doing.Can any one give advice on this please it seemed to happen on all three razors i also thought is because the x pattern mainly gets more of the middle and end of the blade seems like the heel is straight of the stone down to the x pattern.Not sure realy could do with some good advice on this thanxs gary

It's actually got a name "The Rocking X Stroke" and yes it is pretty common when honing anything with a smile, or a warp, or both....
Heavyduty's 9 part honing video shows a great example of it in either part 8 or 9 check it out...
You are on the right course stay with it, every part of the blade has to slide across the hone sooner or later to get sharp, and using the marker test is a great way of learning what is going on, and how to use the rocking stroke....
Another way of getting the bevel set on difficult edges is using circular and or Japanese honing to get that part of the edge beveled, but you still have to learn the rocking stroke to get the edge sharp...

Originally Posted by gssixgun

It's actually got a name "The Rocking X Stroke" and yes it is pretty common when honing anything with a smile, or a warp, or both....
Heavyduty's 9 part honing video shows a great example of it in either part 8 or 9 check it out...
You are on the right course stay with it, every part of the blade has to slide across the hone sooner or later to get sharp, and using the marker test is a great way of learning what is going on, and how to use the rocking stroke....
Another way of getting the bevel set on difficult edges is using circular and or Japanese honing to get that part of the edge beveled, but you still have to learn the rocking stroke to get the edge sharp...

Hi where or how do i veiw that video part nine when you say the rocking stroke do you mean slightly raising the toe so that the heel makes contact with the hone ,i have been doing that and it has formed a good bevel. When i go back to the x pattern and marker test and perform a flat stroke it does'nt remove the marker from the heal still iam only talking about 2/
3/4 mil not alot and the razor does still give me shave right from the 1k. But before i move on to the 4k 8k stage it would be nice to get the marker to totaly remove on a flat x pattern stroke.

I think you missed part of the point of the rocking (I thought is was rolling) x stroke.
If you have found that the rocking is needed to contact the heel, then you will need to continue that same stroke as you progress through your hones, not just on the 1K. The rocking stroke does not "cure" the problem with the blade to allow you to switch back to a flat stroke.

I've got a quick tutorial, if it makes any difference (seems like you've already got the hang of it).

http://straightrazorpalace.com/advan...rolling-x.html

And yes, you'll have to repeat the same stroke pattern all the way up through the grits. It's not a problem with the blade, btw, I actually prefer smiling blades.

Thanxs for that advice that was going to be my next question. i was thinking if it has'nt solved the problem on my 1 k then oviously my 4k and 8k not going to make much differance to my heel.The blade i am honing smiles at the toe but not the heel the heel just finishes in a straight line i think they call it a frown even though i have been rocking toward the heel i have found that i have formed a tiny smile or well it is sharp.I still don't no if i am doing this rocking motion right if only i could see a demon stration thanxs gary

Thanxs very much for that reply and i understand the pictures that is what i was looking for.What i was doing today was starting on the heel but not finishing on the toe just going up and down on the heel untill bevel formed and marker disapeared then i reverted back to flat x pattern but now i no i wil do this tomorrow exallant thank you very much cheers gary

I didn't realize that if you didn't remember where this was it was hard to find


Here is the link parts 8-9 are what you are looking for, but the video is great !!!!!

http://straightrazorpalace.com/213311-post1.html

Hi do i strop as normal or strop with rocking motion.

Gary personally I don't use a rocking motion on the strop when doing a smiling blade... The leather gives enough that it should not be nessesary...
That being said I do pay more attention as I strop, to make sure that I use an X pattern so that every bit of the edge gets a touch to the leather...
Sort of the same statement I made on honing, sooner or later the entire edge has to get honed and the entire edge has to be stropped.....