Thread: How to get the best out of your hone.

Originally Posted by Paysbas

Majurey,

so the Method with soap wil be more agrassive as the method with only water?

best regards,

Paysbas

No, less aggressive. Thats the point.

I have been a two handed honer for quite some time now. I found I had trouble keeping the blade flat on the hone one handed. I think it is more important to keep the blade flat than to keep the lightest pressure on the blade. I can keep very light pressure with two hands anyway. I haven't seen the need for soap on the Shaptons so I guess I will keep honing without soap. I don't think there would be anything wrong with using soap as that would dissolve any oil or grease buildup on the hone and maybe keep the steel from clogging the pores so much.

bj

English, Great thread and posts. My oldest known barber used lather on his very small gray (apox. 3X3 inches) hone. He used an index finger to guide and keep the blade totally flat. I think he used more pressure at first, then only enough to maintain correct contact with the hone surface. I use anything handy for surface coating: Black coffee is what I use mostly! I do most of my final polishing whilst waiting for my wife to do our grocery shopping. She is an avid label-reader (carbohydrate, sugar, additives, etc.); therefore, her shopping is a protracted event. I get some good quality time with my razors out in the parking lot. Coffee, water, and liquid hand soaps do not seem to harm my dark gray Escher at all. When the blade sucks to the surface well and there is absolutly no "draw" whatsoever, I stop. It works for me. Robert

I've had good results with soap on a natural stone, but I don't know that I'd use soap on something like a Norton.

Jordan

I'm a two hand honer as well. I push with the left hand and guide with the right hand. The right hand has three of my fingers down by the edge spaced equally along the blade. This way I vary the pressure with one hand and provide motion with the other. I'm a rightie BTW.

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

No, less aggressive. Thats the point.

Hello AFDavis,

I haven't praktised honing with soap. But before I read the writing of Majurey and he described a lot more steel came of.

I think I must try honing with soap. Is shaving soap a good option?

Originally Posted by Paysbas

Majurey,

so the Method with soap wil be more agrassive as the method with only water?

best regards,

Paysbas

Yes, that had me scratching my head too, because I've since tried it again twice and both times the lather mix on the hone goes visibly grey!

It must be a trick of the light. Because everything else (including the final polished edge) says the soap makes the honing less aggressive. I think with water only it's more difficult to see any metal mixed in, but once you have a little opacity (such as lather suds) you notice the clean white lather changing grey much more than you would see swarf in water-only.

That's the only reasonable conclusion I can come to.

Your making a logic assumption. The lather does gray because of the steel abrasion. That does not mean there is more steel being removed though.

What it means is that against the constrasting white coloration of the lather you can see the abrasion more clealy.

The abrasion is there with water only. It is just not as visible.

Sorry, I missed Majory's post. He's got the idea.

And yes, shaving soap is a great option. It is what I use. I thought someone once mentioned that a Norton stone shouldn't have soap applied to it, but I don't remember. It must be applied very lightly. I wipe my shaving brush over the hone with a single swipe.

I use this technique, with one hand btw, on my Chinese 12K and my Carborundum.

I would like to suggest, also if I may, that this should not be used as a crutch to learn to hone with one hand. This can help. This can be a great way to use one hand. But you should continue to practice, with another razor if desired, with using only one hand (if that is your intention). It is very possible to over power the lather suction created by the hone, even with just moderate practice. The lather can assist with a better more disciplined stroke, but you should continue to perfect a good stroke, turn, and edge landing always ensuring the blade remains perfectly flat.

Although using lather will improve your honing, it is not the path to becoming a honemiester or spiritual enlightenment. :-)

Floor "Shaky Hands" Pizza has to hone two-handed. The razor would skitter around all over the stone if I tried to do it with one hand. Unfortunately, the whole shaky hands thing means that I do have to apply a bit more pressure to get my hands to steady out enough to guide the blade accurately across the stone.

The DMT"s did *not* appreciate the extra pressure I had to put on the blade. The Shaptons, however, have accepted the extra pressure quite well. I'm very pleased with the edges I'm getting off of my Shaptons now. They compare very favorably to my honemeister honed blades.

I've even increased the pressure a bit on my first few strokes on each Shapton grit, with good results. I *love* how the 1k shapton sets a bevel, when used with a bit of pressure, and a 45 degree heel-leading stroke. The edge is so smoooooooth under magnification. No microchips, even on hard blades.

I'm getting such good results using two shaky hands that I think I'd stay using both hands even if I *could* get by with one.

Good tip.
I think the ph level of soapy water might also help prevent rust on razors that are prone to quick oxidation.