Thread: When to use a finishing stone?

I'm having some serious issues with my honing skills these days.It seems like the more you learn about honing, the less you acctually know.I'm having a problem with desiding when to leave my norton 4000/8000, and continue to my 12k chinese.I'm really on deep water when trying to hone a razor thats dull.Are you guys finishing the use of the Norton with exclusivly the 8000 side, or do you use a pyramide all the way?.An excample of a honing progression from start to finish on a dull ebay razor would be greatly appriciated! Also, are you guys actually able to get a really keen edge directly from the 12k? I meen really really sharp... I'm about to slit my throat here, if only I could get my razors sharp enough...

HELP!

Kristoffer,

You have to work on the 4K till the razor is extremely sharp. It should shave armhair with great ease. There are many other tests, which you can look up in the Wiki.
It makes no sense honing on the 8K or the 12K before you established a perfectly sharp cutting bevel along the entire length of the blade.

Only then, proceed with honing on the 8K, or with doing a pyramid if you want to take that route.
If you're afraid of overhoning, you can hone in the stropping direction for 3 or 4 light strokes on the 4K before going to the 8K.

I would just do
20 laps on the Norton 8K and
100 laps on the Chinese 12K
Use very light pressure.

Hope this helps,

Bart.

Originally Posted by Bart

Kristoffer,

You have to work on the 4K till the razor is extremely sharp. It should shave armhair with great ease. There are many other tests, which you can look up in the Wiki.
It makes no sense honing on the 8K or the 12K before you established a perfectly sharp cutting bevel along the entire length of the blade.


Bart.

+1 with the Bartman

Absolutely positively correct, a 4k edge is a "shave ready" edge after that it is all about smoothness not sharpness....
4 steps no matter how you climb them are always the same.

Bevel set
Sharpen
Polish
Finish

Thanks Bart.Thats really helpfull.

You're welcome man.
Keep us posted how it goes.

Bart.

You guys just changed my honing philosophy! I could probably shave right from the 4000.
The rest is dessert.From now on no more pyramid for me, this method is much simpler!
I'll probably get a fancy japanese stone , or a shapton later on, but for now this is fine.
Hmmm, except Lynns whool strop with some crox...

Just out of curiosity: What is missing in Beginner's Guide to Honing - Straight Razor Place Wiki to help a beginner decide which way to go?

Nothing really BeBerlin, everyone has to just work their way through it...
Pyramids work and progressive works too, there is just no easy way.... The best way would be to have an experienced honer sitting right next to a new guy, and walk them through 10 razors from almost ready to E-bay crap, but we manage to struggle through just explaining it as best as possible here on SRP!!!!

Originally Posted by gssixgun

The best way would be to have an experienced honer sitting right next to a new guy, and walk them through 10 razors from almost ready to E-bay crap,

I got lucky in living close enough to The Topher and he did essentially just that.

Just thought I would mention, Bart and Glenn have far more experience then I do and know a lot more about honing but ...... it occurred to me that when I was having problems I watched heavydutysg's video series and he said that most razors sent to him by members who couldn't get them sharp needed further work in getting the bevel set. Sort of the foundation.

Randydance told me this,"The purpose of the 1000 grit is to remove nicks and straighten/shape an edge. For that you use your eyes and the Thumb Nail test, not the Thumb Pad Test. The edge should be free of nicks and the bevel should go all the way to the edge. If you are using a handheld microscope then the bevel will appear as one color, if there are two bevels, old and new, then the light reflects off the bevel at different angles and appears as two colors.

The scratch pattern should also be uniform for both the length and width of the bevel. When you have that then move on to the 4000, but not before. The Norton 1000 is a slow cutter compared to a 1000 grit wet/dry sandpaper or a 1200 grit diamond hone. Use what ever number of strokes it requires to get rid of the nicks and establishing a bevel. This is the most time consuming portion of honing a razor, be patient and persistent.

Once you get to the 4000 grit then you stop using the Thumb Nail test and rely upon the Thumb Pad Test and HHT. You should be using both the TNT and the TPT while you are using the 1000 grit so that you develop a "feel" for what is happening to the edge".

Like Bart and Glenn, Randy knows his stuff and saving the above and practicing it has helped me get my stuff usable.

I know, Glen. BTDT, and all that. I just went through the article, and the two on different hones and sharpness tests, and I thought they answered my questions. Consider the question Wiki Quality Control related.