Thread: Need help with first honing project!

I am trying to hone a razor for the first time. I have a norton 200/1000, Norton 4k/8k, Belgian blue and Belgian yellow coticules and they are all flat as a pancake!

The razor is not sharp and does not have a bevel across the edge when I started but it does not have dings or nicks. There is a bevel on one side of the edge but not at the toe or heel ad the other side has no bevel at all at the toe and heel and varies in the middle.

I began using the Belgian 4K to see if it would do anything as a starter. 100 passes later -nothing! So I went to the NOrton 8K and the same thing - nothing. I then went to the NOrton 4K and nothing. I then went to the 1K and it started to show some change but after 100 passes hardly anything happened. I then did the unthinkable and went to the 200 started seeing some results. However, after 100 passes it still does not have a uniform bevel and there is no bevel at the heel and barely any at the toe on one side. THe other side seems much more even and uniform but nothing is happening on the one side.

What is going on here and what should I try next? THe razor is a beater that I am practicing on so I am not afraid to toy with it. THanks for your help!!!

Tape the spine and proceed with a flat rough hone, the 1k would be a good speed for a beginner.

If your asking, more specifically, why one side is getting honed and not the other, I'm not sure. You could consider honing only one side for a bit and assessing for yourself what the problem is. I'd focus on the spine.

Really, its just simple geometry, nothing hard to figure out.

+1 on what Alan said.

Tape the spine and hone on the 1K till you have established a good bevel. You should be able to shave arm hair along the entire edge, at that point. Don't be afraid staying on one side for awhile, doing circling motions or honing back and forth without lifting or flipping the blade. Don't worry to much about the width of the bevel planes. Often razors have a slight warp in the blade, which shows up in the width of the bevel planes. On any given spot, one side can be wider and the opposite side narrower. The sum of the two should roughly be the same along the entire edge. The main goal is to have flat bevel panes that extend till they meet each other at the apex of the blade.

Once you're there, you can go to the Norton 4K and start honing with regular X-strokes (provided that the edge is straight) and low pressure. If you remove the tape at this point, you'd have to do some extra work on the 4K to make up for the slight alteration of the honing angle.

Good luck,
Bart.