Thread: Setting the bevel basics

Originally Posted by pcb01

O.K., my only excuse is I am BRAND-new to this.

I had a couple of small dings (largest about halfway through the bevel, seen at 60X) on a fifteen-shave old Bismarck. Still don't know how they happend, but I think maybe my angle was too steep, and my beard is pretty coarse.

I think this is where the problem is. I don't know how coarse your beard is, but I doublt anyone's beard is tough enough, or technique bad enough to ding an edge.

As you discovered, less is more in honing. The peaks and valleys are probably from the coarse scratch pattern of the 220, rather than your technique. Doing circles on the 1k or lower grits is for dings you can see with the naked eye. I would do the circles until it is almost gone, then x strokes to even out the hone wear, then go to the next higner grit to set the bevel until the ding is completely gone. Also, especially if I do circles below 1K, I would tape the spine to avoid too much (and uneven) spine wear.

Is your (i think this is what you are describing) microchip giving you a harsh shave? If not, I personally would have left it alone. At most, I'd redo the bevel with x strokes on the 1K until the edge is even, and rehone from there.