Thread: Now I should be set.

After some hesitation I have finally ordered my own set of hones: A Norton 4/8 and a chinese 12k. In addition to those I have ordered some chrome paste and have some balsa at home I plan to turn into a strop.

I have a question: When lapping the chinese, will a normal pencil even be visible on the dark surface?

Now I am looking forward to learning how to take care of my own razors.

yes a normal pencil will show up well on it they are hard so it will take a little while to get it lapped, take your time with it and dont forget to bevel the edges too

The color of the lapped region will be different, so you will barely need a pencil, but yes it will be visible.

A DMT D8C continuous diamond plate would come in mighty handy to lap those. Especially the Chinese. On really tough stones I sometimes lap awhile, take a break and go do something else and then come back to it.

"Now I should be set"

???

Oh, my friend this is just the beginning....just the beginning!

After the Chinese comes thoughts of Spydercos....Shaptons..... exotic Japanese hones you can't even pronounce.....

And that edge will always need "just a touch more on the hone..."


But boy is it fun! Enjoy your honing, it is really a large part of the fun for me.

Use some sandpaper after lapping the chinese, I use 400, 800 and 1200, it really helps!

Life is NOT fair right now, I got a mail from Fedex that the 4/8 had arrived, but I don't have a key to the mailbox and all my room-mates are gone
On top of that I have a BIG exam next week (commercial pilot license) so I really should concentrate on reading and flying instead of honing. But I guess I can make some time for it.

And by the way: I had the best shave I have ever had today, only one tiny weeper, as good as Bs all over and no irritation at all

Also, I have asked a friend to bring me one of his DE blades, so I have a really sharp blade to calibrate my TPT on.

as crappy as that sounds it seems it was meant to be, because lets be honest, you know you wouldn't spend as much time studying if you had your new norton in hand. i know i wouldn't.

patience is hard some times.

Originally Posted by flyboy

Life is NOT fair right now, I got a mail from Fedex that the 4/8 had arrived, but I don't have a key to the mailbox and all my room-mates are gone
On top of that I have a BIG exam next week (commercial pilot license) so I really should concentrate on reading and flying instead of honing. But I guess I can make some time for it.

And by the way: I had the best shave I have ever had today, only one tiny weeper, as good as Bs all over and no irritation at all

Also, I have asked a friend to bring me one of his DE blades, so I have a really sharp blade to calibrate my TPT on.

Best of luck on the check ride! I took mine in 1986 in a T-182RG. I still remember the only question he asked me that I missed. Oh, man, I *still* can't believe I missed it.... He asked, "How can you immediately tell that the aircraft is fuel injected just by looking at the panel?" The answer, as I'm sure you know, is the absence of carburetor heat. Huge brain cramp on that one. Fuel injected planes weren't all that common back then. The T-182RG I flew for that check ride was the first fuel injected plane I flew.

I am doing mine in a 172RG with a carburetor I will keep the injection question in mind
What are you flying now?