Thread: Giving up on honing and straight razor shaving...

I know someone may say "we talked about it many a time" but i'm really frustrated.
I purchased my straight razor together with a strop and a honing stone of 12000 grit (it was the only one that was available). Obviously my razor wasn't "shave ready" as it was advertised so my face looked like a battlefield after first shave or like this:

I realized it needed some honing so i did about 20 strokes on the hone just before next shave. Now the shave was much better but it was far from perfect yet. I understood that the razor is not sharp enough. I decided to hone the razor again. I read on the forum that using 12000 grit stone needs to do 50..100 strokes to make it work. I did so but the razor didn't pass HHT. I honed it again for a few hours in a row but it didn't pass HHT (I tested the razor every 10..20 strokes). The thumbnail test seemed to be ok (i felt sensation of digging the blade into the nail). No matter how long i honed but the sensation felt on the thumbnail didn't change at all.
The surface of my honing stone looks as if it were covered with fat somewhat (when water is poured onto it it doesn't soak into int but stays in the form of "puddle" on the surface). The surface is extremely smooth and i get impression that it doesn't touch the blade at all (i use X-pattern because the stone is narrow)
Is it possible there is something wrong with the hone ?

I've never honed a razor myself so I might be wrong but have you lapped the hone? I thought about it because of the puddle you mentioned... And furthermore, isn't 12K a grit too high to start honing a non-shave-ready razor? Maybe you should go down to the 4K and 8K before you tackle the 12K. My thoughts only. I'm sure some of the more experienced guys will chime in in a while. Good luck though! And DON'T GIVE UP!

You need more coarse hone to do that. Your stone is a polishing stone and cant do what you want.
Did you ask or read on forum what hone you need?
Read this: http://straightrazorpalace.com/basic...ing-razor.html
I just post what I did with razor and how. Btw that's my first honing attempt.

And dont give up, simply ask things and your life will be easier.

--
Z

You can't necessarily trust that a razor claimed to be shave ready actually is. If the bevel has not been set, then you could hone for hours on a 12k and not get anywhere. It's kind of equivalent to rubbing 1000 grit sandpaper on a tree limb--you first have to start with something much more coarse. You probably need to start with a hone that is more coarse to remove metal before going on to the 12K that polishes it.

Regarding the hone, lots of finer grit hones don't really soak up the water but it should not bead water. It might have oil on it. Has your hone been lapped? Where did you get the hone, strop, and razor? If it was on-line can you provide the link?

If you have not actually given up, I will help you. I will hone your razor and/or lap your hone for free except for shipping. PM me if you are interested.

Unfortunately 12000 grit was the only one i could get (maybe i will look for 8000 but it seems it will be very difficult). I lapped the hone (i hope i get this right - my native language is Polish and i understand "to lap" as to "keep it in the water for some time" - right ? Please correct me if i'm wrong).
The strange thing is that the sensation i feel when drawing the blade along the thumbnail doesn't change at all.

The razor is DOVO 5/8. The hone producer is unknown but i think you are right that the grit is too fine to start honing.

Originally Posted by kekon

Is it possible there is something wrong with the hone ?

It's possible but unlikely.

Just a tip: Don't foul up a shaving edge by running it along your thumbnail.
If you want to sharpen a troublesome razor, you might want a spare that you can shave with in the meantime. You may find you need more practice, more tools, more patience, more practice, etc before it ever shaves

Just to add some extra info: don't trust the HHT. It is a parlour trick, and not a real edge test.
The only real test is the shavetest. There are so many factors in a successful HHT that it is not dependable if you are new to honing.

A failed HHT does not mean that the edge is not good.

Thank you very much for replies. It seems to me Utopian is absolutely right. I need coarser hone first.
Another thing i forgot to write - the edge on one side of the razor looks somewhat differently (it looks as if it had different angle).

To lap is to flatten the hone. Leaving it in water is to soak it, that is only done if the hone needs to absorb water. Generally the finer hones do not absorb much water. Lapping is done to make sure that the hone is perfectly flat and to remove and bits of grit that might be sticking up slightly.

The thumbnail test is only done to check for chips or nicks in the blade. After you get a smooth and biting sensation with the nail test there is no need to do it any longer--and it will not change. You then need to move to the thumb pad test to check for progressively greater degrees of sharpness. The sensation of the blade gently cutting into your skin is what you are looking for at that stage. As the blade gets sharper the sensation will change. If you need the TPT thumb pad test explained just let us know.

I did not realize you were in Poland. You clearly don't want to ship your stuff that far. If you keep asking here, we can probably help you out.

Well, the stone is perfectly flat. The thumb pad test always gives the same sensation (no matter how many strokes i do on the hone) - the blade slides over the pad very smoothly but doesn't cuts into the skin much (i use very light pressure). I found an old ordinary razor blade by Wilkinson and it seems to be sharper when i slide it along the pad.