Thread: Is it normal to take so long..

took me a long time few hours. The spine seemed okay.

I've since then tried my luck with sandpaper instead

I started with some 1k then 2k then norton 8k and finally yellow coticule with some water.

The blade was pretty darn sharp.

I'm curious as to why you would need to set the bevel on a blade that was shave ready just a week ago. That must be one tough beard you have. High iron diet I imagine.

It's possible, as a few folks pointed out, that the issue is the tape. If it was first honed with a layer (or two) of tape, you are essentially reestablishing a bevel if you choose not to use tape.

I know this has been discussed plenty of times elsewhere, but briefly, by not using tape, you are changing the angle of honing, and your first strokes will be on the bevel angle, not on the cutting edge -- which nay not even be touching the hone. And you'll stroke away until that old bevel angle is honed down and you finally set a new bevel and get to the cutting edge.

Four thousand strokes does seem a lot, though. I generally set bevels with a 1k, and sometimes even with a 500, so it might just take that long on a 4k, especially if it's hard steel (although the FR I have is relatively easy to work with).

Hope that helps some, and YMMV,

cass

Apart from the tape issue, if it was really dull to begin with, it will take a lot of metal removal to get it ready.
The bevels will look ok, but as long as the 2 bevels are not touching each other, it will still be as dull as a shovel.

How does your razor react to the thumbnail test?
If it still doesn't grab the nail, more honing is needed, in which case you might want to use a 1K stone, or -if you don't have one- use 1K wet/dry sandpaper on a flat surface.