Thread: I cannot get my razor shave ready

Ok, so i bought this razor from the art of shaving.I wanted to try honing. I use a razor that lynn sharpened daily, so I know how sharp it should be. I have a norton 4/8k that i lapped flat. And over the past 2 weeks I have tried, 4 different pyramids, these ones from this page Setting The Bevel And Honing With The Norton 4/8 Pyramid - Straight Razor Place Wiki

i did the conservative twice and then the agressive twice and my razor is no where near shave ready. I dont want to over hone or mess up the bevel. I guess I need to get on the 4k and remove more material. I am using the X pattern with a light touch. Any advice?

thanks
ed

Use the TNT and the marker test (paint the edge with a black marker) to set the bevels all the way out to the edge.

If pyramids don't seem to be working for you, try this.

Originally Posted by Leighton

Let me get this right. Lynn sharpened it for you and then you took the razor to a 4k stone?

Nope. He was comparing it to the shaving quality of the razor honed by Lynn.

Pyramids are useless if you haven't set the bevel. Make sure you have it sharp the full length of the blade before you start the pyramids.

another big question is what shape was the blade in before you started at it? was there any bevel? did you breadknife it? (hopefully not ir things will take a while). a really important thing for me is to visualize things so a cheap magnifying glass is a must when i am honing. you will be able to see exactly where you are taking material off and how much more you need to take off. around 30-60x is usually fine. this combined with using marker on the bevel works great.

so is the bevel even along the whole razor?

Originally Posted by tryonix

Ok, so i bought this razor from the art of shaving.I wanted to try honing. I use a razor that lynn sharpened daily, so I know how sharp it should be. I have a norton 4/8k that i lapped flat. And over the past 2 weeks I have tried, 4 different pyramids, these ones from this page Setting The Bevel And Honing With The Norton 4/8 Pyramid - Straight Razor Place Wiki

i did the conservative twice and then the agressive twice and my razor is no where near shave ready. I dont want to over hone or mess up the bevel. I guess I need to get on the 4k and remove more material. I am using the X pattern with a light touch. Any advice?

thanks
ed

A light touch is cool but if you are setting the bevel a little more pressure is not a bad thing. Magnification with an eye loupe or hand held microscope (radio shack or ebay) is very helpful. In setting the bevel circular and paint brush strokes are also good. If you haven't checked out Lynn and heavydutysg's honing videos that would be helpful too. I can guarentee that the pyramids work.

Try the marker test to see if your bevel is established. Use a felt marker to mark the edge and see if the stone is grinding the very edge.

Ah, I see now, I didnt understand the whole bevel thing until i put the marker on and ran it across the hone. I thought that since my blade had an edge from the factory that that edge was the bevel, and WOW it takes a long tome to set a bevel with a 4k.

Ed

Originally Posted by tryonix

Ah, I see now, I didnt understand the whole bevel thing until i put the marker on and ran it across the hone. I thought that since my blade had an edge from the factory that that edge was the bevel, and WOW it takes a long tome to set a bevel with a 4k.

Ed

Sure does.

It'll set eventually.....

why folks justify purchasing 1k, 600, and 325 grit hones.... (not that anything lower than 1k hits the razors unless a major chip is being worked out) let the HAD begin

Or some majorly up spine/bevel work. Stinky Genevas....