Thread: Feeling pretty good...but a question

OK, so last weekend was a three-day weekend, so I had plenty of time to play around with my toys...I mean, work hard on my very important projects. I got a couple of my razors honed up, and I think I did ok!

I worked on the Torrey from this thread first. I used Glen's tips for honing an eBay blade, as this one was, and progressed to a BBW/Coti refinement a la Bart's Honing Method in the wiki. I finished on a 12k Shapton pro and CrOx. The partial test shave was good, not great, and then I did a full shave yesterday and got a very nice shave. It looks like the very tip isn't quite as sharp as the rest of the blade (there is a wee bit of a smile) so I'll need to go back to the hones to get better consistency, but it was definitely a success in my book!

The other razor is the crazy Japanese-made spike point from this thread. I started the same way on this one, but I used a King ceramic 4k instead of the BBW, and some 8k lapping film instead of the coti. Again, I finished up on the 12k and CrOx. This blade wasn't quite as keen as the Torrey, I think, and the heel on this one was kind of rough, so I'm going to drop back down and try to reset the bevel. But, again, as this is only maybe the 4th or 5th razor I've honed, I'm not at all dissatisfied.

I did learn quite a bit from this, which is of course my real goal. For example, my technique with smiling blades does need a lot of work. Also, the microscope is really helping me understand the way that the hones I have deal with scratch patterns. I'm also liking the King 4k hone I got. It seems to work well with the 1k diamond plate I use (I have a King 1k, but it seems to be WAY too slow...).

Now here's my question. When honing from the very beginning, while setting the bevel, Glen recommends angled laps, heel first and NO x strokes. How do you adapt this for a smiling blade? Go ahead and do X strokes? I tried adding a little "swoop" at the end of the angled lap to get that tip on my Torrey, but it looks like it didn't work that well.

Any advice you might have would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Jim

I put marker on the edge and see what stroke is effective to take the marker off. If it is a smiling blade depending on how radical it is I have bit the bullet and put in the extra time doing rolling X strokes to set the bevel and continued with those to complete the honing.

I have also done back and forth strokes and circles from the heel to wherever it was touching towards the point and then from the point to where it would make up the difference back toward the heel.

Then checked with magnification every so often.and alternated with rolling x to even things out. Lynn recommends heel leading with the blade at a 45 degree angle to the hone and I have done that as well.

I'm not representing myself as an expert and instructing you in how to hone. Just some stuff that I have done and had work for me with different blades. Glen or Lynn will be along and give you more expert opinions if not someone else.

I believe the rolling x stroke is how you would adapt for a smiling blade.

Not using the x stroke keeps the same amount of pressure on the entire edge and gives you the best chance to get a straight edge as it is the easiet stroke to maintain consistency from start to finish. When the edge is curved, and you use a rolling x, you have to be careful about the amount of pressure you use throughout the stroke. Especially on the toe and heel, where less of the blade is in contact with the hone and will need less pressure to get the same result as the rest of the edge.

Consistency is key. You want to remove the same amount of metal from each and every spot along the edge. You can start out with a straight edge, then through many honing sessions you will be able to see how your stroke is affecting the shape of that edge. If you keep consistent pressure on the blade and keep it flat, then your edge will remain straight and you will have a single, consistent bevel. If you use the same pressure throughout an x stroke and not compensate for the toe or heel, you will end up with a smiling edge. You can maintain a straight edge with a rolling x, but you have to be able to adjust your pressure.

I am far from an expert, but I have found some success through my own honing endeavors. All my razors are slowly but surely starting to smile at the ends, so I am still working on the pressure aspect of it all. You can either adjust your stroke, or the razor will adjust to your stroke over a long time, if you are consistent. In the end, having the ability to adjust your stroke would probably be the best as every razor will not come pre-adjusted to you.

Have you tried adding 15-20 laps on the coticle with water after the 12k? I have and I must say that the results were a lot smoother for me.

Yeah man - for a smiler I think you will have to go the X pattern. Well, that is what I do at least - angled X pattern with a rolling motion. Magic Marker might help you get the muscle memory going too.

James.

I had great success using the "half-moon" stroke that hi_bug_gl discussed in his videos. I honed up a smiling razor with that stroke method, discussed here: http://straightrazorpalace.com/advan...ley-razor.html.

What Jimmy said about using the marker test I also found to be very useful. That's how I knew that this half-moon stroke was more effective at hitting the entire edge than a regular x-stroke, for my razor anyways.

You mentioned that you had trouble getting the toe as sharp as the rest of the blade, and I had the same problem at first too. It seems that the little twist of the half-moon stroke helps the toe on a smiling razor see some action on the hone. YMMV, but it worked for me!

I use marker and if the toe and heal are not making full contact just use rocking x stroke it works every time i use for regular blades practice this stroke with an old razoryou only need to use the last inch and halve of hone for this.