Thread: Hard to Hone Razors

I’ve been honing razors for a couple of years now and would consider myself at least competent with a hone. That said, I’ve got two razors that I just can’t seem to get shaving sharp. I’ve set the bevel on both and it looks very nice and even along the length of the blade. I’ve tried various combinations of progressive honing, pyramid honing (on a Norton 4/8k and Spyderco UF), diamond past, and CrO. Both of these razors seem to be sharp but have reached a distinct plateau of sharpness. With the TPT my thumb just glides smoothly over the blades…there’s no bite or stickiness. Has anyone else had this happen and more importantly how did you solve it?

One razor is marked “Clim” with a picture of an ax the other is a “Merit” written inside a diamond, I haven’t dealt specifically with these two brands before but the results I’m getting are very similar between the two of them. Any suggestions? The obvious observation would be that there is something wrong with my technique, but I think it’s at least passable since I’ve got numerous other antique razors that I’ve restored and keep shaving sharp with no problem.

Thanks

Sounds like poor steel if your known and proven techniques aren't working.

Hey, you seem to have left out the part about how they shave, or look under magnification. Either of those two can explain a lot when other test seem contradictory.
Eww, the thought of having a bad razor is not very comforting either is it? That'd be a bummer.

Originally Posted by greenwoz

With the TPT my thumb just glides smoothly over the blades…there’s no bite or stickiness.

The bevel is not set, even a Zeepk will be sharp at this stage if the bevel is set right...

Go back to yer lowest grit stone and re-set the bevel until it is sticky sharp then proceed with yer normal honing routine....

A properly set bevel off a 1k stone will pop arm hair and slice yer thumb but good if yer not careful, honest it doesn't matter what razor it is....

Glen is correct! He usually is on such matters!

I have noticed same kind of problems. I have a one ERN vanadium 6/8 which seems to be a hard one to get a shave ready. I have a magnification (100x) lens and under that the bevel seems to look alright. But no shave ready edge.
Steel information from Spyderco website.
I have figured out in this case that this one is so hard that it needs at least 3 times work comparing to my other blades. Well I don't give up yet. My hones are still limited and I haven't try all techniques (ia pyramid honing) and different pressures yet.
One of my favourite is John Heiffor's 6/8 wedge with smiling edge. It's another example of hard honing steel. It's some sort of silver steel and needs too more work than most of mine.
But in this case I get the shave ready edge into it and funny thing is that I get it a little bit easier with soft naniwa 10k stone. And the edge is quite comfortable noticing my limited experience. . Well....what the h***, I like a lot of this blade and I'm happy that it cost me 18€.
Honing is an interesting topic due to wide range of variables.

Tony, I get the impression that like me honing is as enjoyable as shaving to you. I hope you don't follow me down the slippery slope of HAD (hone acquisition disorder)
I too have found that all blades are not created equal. TI, some Dovos and others are for sure harder to get up to speed. For example my small collection of Dubl Ducks are all easy to hone up with the exception of the Wonderedge.

All of them came to me through ebay with micro chipping and needed to have bevels set. The Goldedge, Satinedge, Hand Froged and Lifetime were easy but the cyro hardened Wonderedge took a lot more work. I have a TI damascus that lived up to it's reputation of being a bear to hone and my new Bill Ellis ATS 34 were brutal. Once there they are great though. Thanks for the link to the Syderco glossary. Nice to have the capsule metallurgy info.

i also have a CLIM razor it wasent all that hard to get shaving it is one of my better razors i set the bevel on a 325 dmt then a bb then the yellow then a chinese 12k then strop and smooth shave .i have shaved aboyt 20 times with it and still does not need a touch up.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

The bevel is not set...

A properly set bevel off a 1k stone will pop arm hair and slice yer thumb but good if yer not careful, honest it doesn't matter what razor it is....

I need to disagree here- at least in my experience. There has been one razor that I could not get sharp. Good, but old Sheffield brand- a known one. Anyway- I honed this thing for literally hours- maybe 6 or 7 when all was said and done. It was carbon steel. No matter what I tried, the bevel would not get there. It would SEEM like it was- very sharp, passed the TNT, I even looked at the very edge straight up (to see the joining sides) under a microscope and things looked perfect. Still no matter what, it would not cut hair. Went through grits from 325 up to 8k and nothing. Up in grits, back down to 325 for a couple hours, etc. Just would not cut a hair. I swear everything about the bevel looked and felt perfect. I gave up and sent it back to the owner telling him to send it to Glen to see if he could do it and see if it frustrated him endlessly.

So at this point, I cannot answer one way or another, but do know there was a razor that I couldn't get sharp. Until I see THAT razor cutting hair- I won't believe in Glen's "any razor can pop hair" approach.

Originally Posted by Philadelph

So at this point, I cannot answer one way or another, but do know there was a razor that I couldn't get sharp. Until I see THAT razor cutting hair- I won't believe in Glen's "any razor can pop hair" approach.

Hmmmm that scares me if you couldn't get the puppy popping hair Alex, Maybe I'll need to re-phrase that statement after I see this monster...
I know he told me he was sending it out, but not here yet, I 'll pm ya after it gets to me....