Discussing honing techniques with Superfly raised some interesting questions. Hopefully we can explore them with this thread and help all of us to become more knowledgeable honemeisters.


First, I'm not sure a wire edge can always be felt with the fingernail. If it is straight, it looks like a clean edge. But a wire edge would be thin, so after your first shave with one, there should be signs of a disintegrating edge caused by your beard chopping out little hair shaped gullies in the edge. This will not show up using a 10x or 20x loupe. You need at least 60x microscope to see it. Except for very general use, I find that a 10x or 20x loupe is over-rated as a tool for edge examination. Even the radio shack microscope is a much more useful tool for far less money.

My problem has not been the inability to create a very sharp edge on a razor. For me, the problem has been to create one that lasts. I use a modified X pattern where I do 5 to 10 strokes on one side followed by 5 to 10 strokes on the other. Superfly feels this can cause a wire edge by doing it this way rather than alternating strokes on different sides of the blade. That may be true, but if so why? What is the logic and mechanics involved? What are the responsible factors in creating a wire edge, and how do we avoid creating one? We have had many discussions on removing a wire edge, but how do we avoid creating one in the first place?