Thread: Definition of honing "feedback"

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Feedback comes in a few forms when honing, Tactile of course tells a great story, once you are used to what is going on... Auditory is very important in the beginning, it will tell you very fast if your honing stroke is even close to being right..... The Visual with the ripple of water moving evenly as Croaker just mentioned is a great way to make sure your stroke is moving correctly across the hone....

Combine all this feedback and you are learning to hone for real.....

+1 on Glen. It takes all of the sounds, feels and visual changes to really know what is going on. Observe the feel, sound and visual changes and inspect the edge when you notice a change in any of them. Note the change in a log or mental note. Keep at this for several hundred razors and you will know what is going on without thinking about it.

Good point about auditory cues: I think they match pretty close to my above tactile descriptions.

I never got much from watching the water/slurry ahead of the blade though. Too distracting from my touch, I suppose. That and when I finish, I usually do it under a dribbling faucet, so that kind of negates the "wave".

How would you describe feedback you get from the steering system in your car as you drive on a winding mountain road? I don't know that I could and the same with a hone. I agree you get all kinds of cues; the sounds the razor makes, the feel passing over the hone. Each hone has an entirely different regime here and each razor too just like each car will be different and even the same car outfitted with different tires and shocks.

All I know is as the honing progresses there's this 6th sense that tells me its time to stop and check. Now if I could convert that to text I'd be a pretty smart guy.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

...All I know is as the honing progresses there's this 6th sense that tells me its time to stop and check. Now if I could convert that to text I'd be a pretty smart guy.

That's why honing is an art, not a science. Try asking Picasso or Dali, or Kandinsky how they painted so well...er, build a time machine and do that.

When honing on the nortons, I notice a definite change of feel when the blade is progressing along the particular grits. When I first begin on the 4000 it is slightly louder when honing on it, and I feel ever so slightly a grittier sensation. But after more strokes, it really seems to smooth out (I am rinsing the surface often, so it has nothing to do with swarf building) and honing on it seems quieter. On the norton 8000, I really get the sensation of suction when the blade has progressed on it. I liken honing on an 8000 when the blade is ready to honing on honey.

The coticule gives me an interesting feel too. The more the edge progresses along on it the more glassy it feels, like there's absolutely no resistence.

The thuringian I haven't noticed that much of feedback. But I've also only ever used it following a coticule, so the edges are plenty smoothed out by that point. I'm sure if I were to raise a slurry to do more aggressive work on my thuringian(s) I would notice changes in feedback. But I don't use it for that purpose, so it doesn't really pertain to my honing progression.

My findings are obviously extremely subjective and are my personal interpretations of what I feel. Others are likely to feel/hear different results on the same stones. But I would have to agree completely that different hones give different feedback as you progress along them, and my experience is limited to both the number of razors I've honed and to the variety of stones that I've used.

I may only have a few stones and a few razors, but I've gotten great results off the few stones with my razors. I think getting to know your hones is really important, and how they perform and feel while honing. I feel as if I understand my stones, enough that I'm pleased with the results that they're giving me. So that's all that's important to me.

When I first started using the Norton 4/8K it would whisper to me:

"You haven't got a clue what your doing, do ya?"

The feedback is now much more constructive.

AFDavis11 thats a good one!

StraightRazorDave I do not use Nortons but I've noticed just about the same on other hones and agree completely on less feedback with higher grits.

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

When I first started using the Norton 4/8K it would whisper to me:

"You haven't got a clue what your doing, do ya?"

The feedback is now much more constructive.

OK Now that was freaking funny.... Thanks for the chuckle Alan