Originally Posted by
zepplin
As usual, I agree with everything Glen has said (I always do).
I would like to add that I have found that by spending more time and attention on my "bevel producing" hone, in my case it's the 1200 DMT, my razor edges have gotten better and better. I do use my microscope during this proceedure! I have found that I will not proceed until I am absolutely sure the bevel is perfect. - from there, it's just a matter of going through my various stones and finishers to get that perfect edge. For me, the success or failure of my honing starts and ends with the condition of the bevel!!! I hone mostly Ebay junkers, and I will say that many times I have to go through a lot of different honing gymnastics to get that bevel where I want it, i.e., pressure(yes, even at different parts of the blade if needed), rolling stroke (for uneven bevels and even a warped bld now and then), and even circles (I haven't done this for a long, long time).
There is, also, the other side of that coin: where as the edge and bevel is absolutly even, and near perfect. I had two this week from Ebay. I was blown away because the honing took so little time, yet the shaves were beautiful. I keep hearing those words of Lynn, "less is better, less is better" - and I agree with that, but only if you start out with an excellent blade with a perfect bevel to begin with.
One more note (sorry to go on and on). Even though I have spent a lot of time getting this bevel as perfect as I can, many times I have to spendeven more time on my coarser stones than normal - to get to that 16K and eventually my Nakayama polisher/finisher. In this case it would be the 4K & 8K Shaptons on glass. This is probably due to a blade that has experienced over a hundred years of abuse, either from the enviornment they were left in, or many different owners who didn't know what they were doing. Again, I would not move on from that 4K, or the 8K, 'till I was satisfyed my edge was ready for the next finer stone. I used to go "through the motions" in my honing, thinking, "well, I did 50 laps on the 8K, now I should be able to move on"(I was impatient!) - only to find that I had done a poor job of honing, and I needed to go back. So,....is there a point here? Yes! Get that bevel correct, before moving on, and don't move through your different stones until that edge and bevel is completed at that level of your honing.
I'm sorry to make such a big deal of this, but this subject is near and dear to my heart. I have spent many wasted and unproductive hours at the stones because I did not complete what was needed on my couarser hones 1st before moving on to my polishers.
Steve