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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.
???Quote:
"Now I should be set"
Oh, my friend this is just the beginning....just the beginning!:rofl2:
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!
:gl:
Now both my hones should be on their way.
I think the only thing needed on my razors right now is a touch-up. I have used them since late november, so they could probably need it. Do any of you guys have any advice on how to just touch u a razor?
I got very luck when I got my 12k, It required very minimal lapping. The pencil marks showed up fine. I lapped mine with the D8C in the sink under running water. The D8C clogs up pretty easy, so the running water will help that process. Now, I'm in the process of making some 12k Slurry stones. They're a great but slow finisher, 100 passes easy....
I went to Home Depot today and got some stuff for the lapping. A polished stone tile and some sandpaper. I already had some Norton 400 wet paper at home that I used to sand a model airplane, so I figured the only paper I would need was the 1000 grit. But they didn't have anything over 600 so I just bought that. Will 600 be ok for the lapping if I finish off really light or do I need some higher grit?
Yeah, right. I have the same stuff you have, plus a few DMT Dia Sharps from before my straight razor days, and all I can think of now is Shapton. I never thought it would get to this point.
In a brochure that came with my Norton single grit stones they recommended 600 grit for the 4 & the 8. You can usually find higher grit sandpaper in large auto parts stores.Quote:
Originally Posted by flyboy
Do you mean I should get something higher for the 12k?
To be honest with you until I got the Shapton GDLP I lapped darn near all of them with a D8C which is 325. Feels plenty smooth to my fingers and blades. I only read the brochure the other day and I have a D8F coming. That is the 600 grit plate.Quote:
Originally Posted by flyboy
I have never lapped with sandpaper but plenty of guys do it. If you do a search in basic honing with sandpaper as the key word I bet you will come up with all kinds of info.
Same here, man. I'm also in SLC. It's a good thing there's not a store in the valley that sells stones. I'd be more broke than I am!Quote:
Originally Posted by kahunamoose
I would love to get Shapton's 2k, 4k, 8k, 16k, as well as a BBW and Coticule. *Then* I'd really be set. Uh huh. :)
Today I got the Chinese stone and the paste. So I started lapping it and it seems to go fairly well, just a bit left now.
So now I only have to wait for my Norton and I can start honing my own razors :)
Now the stone is lapped up to 1200 grit sandpaper and I tried to do some polishing on it, but the razor didn't really react in any direction. Think I will wait for the Norton and see how it works out then.
i have your exact set up and it works great. i also have the 220/1k norton for bevel setting. i really like them and i am like you in that i feel like i am set now.
so what razor kind of razors are you getting ready to touch up?
if it were me i give the 12k a try and then hit the 8k, if it is just a touch up then you shouldn't need to go to the 4k. check out the wiki article on pyramids as a mild pyramid would probably work too.
good luck and i hope to hear about your progress.
:cry:I have a Dovo "best value" and a Razor I bought here on site, it is a Walter&co, solingen that I absolutely love!
I Went another 150 laps on the stone tonight and a bit on some balsa with chrome (the Dovo). I actually think it is slightly sharper, but I still have to have a bit of a brisk movement on the HHT test to get the hairs to pop. The goal is to be able to just bring the hairs down slowly. But I guess the real test comes tomorrow when shaving.
I found out there is a tiny chip on the edge of the Dovo from it hitting the scales, but I have shaved with it a few times after that and couldn't even feel any difference. That will be my pet project when I get the Norton, it would be nice to know that I did it by myself:)
When I honed I tried to only use the weight of the razor and think I did that part fairly well. It helped a lot to watch the wave and use that as a confirmation that the razor was level at all times.
I am thinking about cutting off a bit of the end of the chinese and make myself a slurry-stone. Do any of you guys know a cheap way to cut it off? (I am a student and live 4000+ miles from home, so all my tools are left behind:cry:)
i will say i have a slurry stone for my 12k and i do use it but wouldn't say it is essential. for the effort you would go through to cut it i doubt you would notice a huge need for it. this is just my opinion though. the thing is you would need either a stone cutter or a bunch of hack saw blades and then you still have to lap one of the sides at least a little. again i do use mine but wouldn't say it makes or breaks my shave in any way. you could ask ChrisL for info on cutting them as he is who i got mine from and had a pretty good thread about it if you search in here.Quote:
Originally Posted by flyboy
Try taking it to a floor tile dealer. They have all kinds of wet saws, etc. for cutting hard stone. They probably wouldn't even charge you to cut a piece off. Just look up "Tile" in your yellow pages. :)
An angle grinder with a stone cutting disc should go through it easily, need to be careful to do a neat job but if you find someone with that setup they probably know how to use it, I have one here but no use to you Im afraid. Or someone that fits granite worktops.
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 :cen
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:nj
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. :rolleyes:
patience is hard some times.
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by flyboy
I am doing mine in a 172RG with a carburetor I will keep the injection question in mind:)
What are you flying now?
737's for, IMHO, the best company in the world (and I'll leave it at that :) ).Quote:
Originally Posted by flyboy
Now I just picked up the 4/8, had a small 10 minute lapping-session before I put it away. Now it is only reading the rest of the day.
Both hones are lapped and good to go. I had a small honing-session this evening, more of a touch-up actually. Did a conservative pyramid on the norton and about 40 laps on the 12k, then some balsa with chrome and about 100 laps on leather.
The razor didn't really become any much sharper, but not much duller either. It could pop hair even after the honing. I know HHT is not a test to rely to much on, but I guess I can't have done too horrible when it actually works.
When doing the TPT the blade seems to be sharper on the toe than the heel, the inch nearest the heel seemed a bit duller than the rest.
I guess I should look a bit around in antique shops to try to find a razor that isn't sharp at all, I considered breadknifing the one I was touching up, just to know that it was actually me who did it and not it being sharp despite me because of the last guy.
I know I really should be reading, but a man needs some breaks. I will not do any honing from scratch before I am done with the check-ride.
Let us know how both the honing and the 'ride go!
I passed!
So now I can hone my razor. I will tell how the progress is honing wise. (at least until I start doing the flight instructor things wich will keep me really busy)
There's a new kid in town...Quote:
Originally Posted by flyboy
Congratulations!! Now just do the exact same maneuvers from the right seat, make sure you have a killer lesson plan, and knock that CFI rating out! I'm glad to hear you don't have to take CFI rides from an actual federally anymore. I was lucky, too... I took my CFI rating in 1986 (in the same T-182RG about two weeks later), and was able to take it with a DE. About three months later, the feds changed it so you had to go with an actual FAA examiner. For some odd reason, the failure rate on CFI rides more than quadrupeled after that. hmm. wonder why.Quote:
Originally Posted by flyboy
I tried to shave with my own home-honed razor today.
It worked, but pulled a lot, so I think it is back to the hones and try some more.
I just tried to touch it up one more time, it went a lot better this time:)
First I did a pyramid. Then some extra on the 8k with soap before i moved up to the chinese.
I did approx. 70 strokes on the chinese before I stropped a 100 laps. It still pulled quite a bit, so I gave it 20 on the chrome (the hand american hard block, so I really look forward to trying the powder) and stropped it again. This time it was a lot better! It still wasn't perfect, but fairly good!
I like this :tu
I tried to get it even sharper today. Gave it a few more laps on the 8k with soap and then quite a bit on the 12k, then some chrome. It didn't get any better, but not worse either:)
Guess I will just wait for the HA chrome powder to arrive and see if it is even better than the wax stick I am using now.
Today I got the chrome powder!
Now it is going to be good to actually have enough time to use it:)
It is going to be so good to get enough time to really learn the honing thing and be able to make an awesome shaving-edge!