Honing Bent Razors using Combined Circle and X-strokes
I have broken three good razors that were bent, while attempting to "tap" them straight. If a razor is straight (flat) enough, the X-strokes are enough to pick up the parts of the edge that were not in good enough contact during the "no pressure" circle strokes, as Lynn Abrahms describes them. I bought a Dovo 6/8 Best Quality. It was sharp from toe to heel and great shaver. Later attempting to hone it, I found it to be badly bent. I failed in 6 attempts to hone it, but since it was perfectly honed when I bought it, I knew it could be done. Finally, I did combined circle-X-strokes. Think of 20 circle strokes as the razor is drawn across the 3" wide stone, however instead of the razor going across, make it go diagonally across till at the end only about 1/3-1/4 of it is still on the stone. I guide the razor by gently pressing with index finger and thumb at the spine near the toe. This is to ensure that the spine and edge are always in contact and there is not very much pressure. The method worked beautifully. I could shave the hair on my arm from toe to heel after Norton 4000. After Norton 8000, hanging hair test also worked. I cleaned and stropped it and found the best HHT performance yet. Just a mere contact seemed to cut the hair near the toe. HHT works near the heel but not as well. Next time I will give the heel part more attention by starting the stroke with a little more pressure near the heel.