Thread: Ok, guys ...

Ok, so I re-flattened my hones if they needed it or not.

I put a blade on the 4k for hours (literally).The blade was sharp enough to awkwardly cut arm hair. By 'awkwardly' I mean holding the edge about 0.5 cm above the skin of my arm and it would cut maybe 2 hairs out of 60-80 the edge would actually contact.


I put the blade on the 8k for a few hundread laps after the 4k. It really didnt seem to do very much. The edge would not cut any arm hair. I looked at the edge with a 10x power lens. The bevel seemed to be even and no nicks were in the edge.


This edge was not even close to being sharp enough to shave. Now I have a face full of cuts.

... wtf ...




I am not exagerating when I say I dumped at minimum about 15 hours into honing this blade. I understand that this process cannot be rushed ... so why am I putting so much time into this and not seeing results.

I have a hard time believing I haven't put enough time into honing this stupid thing.

Also, I have a hard time believing it really takes this long to get a good shaving edge.

+20 hours after the bevel is cut?

This time estimae is within reason regarding a hollow ground blade?

No way.

I am doing something wrong here.

I tried bud_gl's method stated above and the blade wasnt even close to shaving sharp after the 8k. How do I know? I shaved with it ... well, tried to.

This week I have had more cuts on my face than almost 1 year of straight shaving. grrr.

Originally Posted by Lynn

Stop by the house for about an hour and we'll have you well on your way to successfully honing your razors.

Door is always open,

Lynn

That is an awesome offer! In 30 minutes you will learn more than you will on your own in 6 months. There is nothing like seeing it done!

I would add that you should buy some pastes (0.5, 0.25 diamond and Chromium Oxide) and either buy or make some paddle strops. I kept a blade going for 8 months with pastes and a 8K diamond plate. I am from the school that new guys need a way to get sharp razors with a minimum amount of work. They might not be perfect but they will do a very good job and get you going on shaving, the most important part at first. You need another razor and there are many good razors for sale on the Classified section.

Take Care,
Richard

Originally Posted by Whiskers

I put a blade on the 4k for hours (literally).The blade was sharp enough to awkwardly cut arm hair. By 'awkwardly' I mean holding the edge about 0.5 cm above the skin of my arm and it would cut maybe 2 hairs out of 60-80 the edge would actually contact.

You are very persistent, and that can be a good thing. But you are now stubbornly doing the same tests and the same aggressive honing when you know it isn't getting you anywhere.

You know the sides of the bevel have already met to form a "V" edge. You need to stop wearing away the blade for no reason.

Please learn how to do the thumbnail and thumbpad tests. The TNT will let you know when the bevel is formed and nick-free. Stop using the 4K at that point. Except maybe as part of conservative pyramids. (Also stop doing the TNT after going to finer grits.)

The TPT confirms you have sharpness. It can be tricky to interpret - as someone else pointed out it can mislead you to think it is losing sharpness as you polish the edge. Buy some DE blades to compare the feel against. They are cheap.

And once you've got those DE blades, try those arm hair popping tests on them. I think you are in for a rude awakening.

My touch was very light during this whole honing process. I made it a point to go and use basically the weight of the blade during this session. I didnt see any appreciable wear on the blade.

The thumbnail test is only for honing out nicks.

The sticky thumbpad test only means the edge has a certain surface finish on it.

The only test worth it's salt is the shave test.

Dang! I was just in Philly last week . . .

I have been applying the pointers outlined in this thread to my honing.

I have learned a few things :

- Heavy hands do not refine an edge.
- Patience, Danielson ... Patience.
- Lap, Lap, Lap. Keep the hone flat.
- Old habits die hard. haha.
- I love my Schumate 30.

Finally, I am able to put on (and keep) a good shaving edge on a few of my blades. Granted, these blades are hollow ground but lately I have been working over a 1/4 ground blade and I am having some fun with working that edge.



Thanks SRP !!

Originally Posted by Whiskers

I have been applying the pointers outlined in this thread to my honing.

I have learned a few things :

- Heavy hands do not refine an edge.
- Patience, Danielson ... Patience.
- Lap, Lap, Lap. Keep the hone flat.
- Old habits die hard. haha.
- I love my Schumate 30.

Finally, I am able to put on (and keep) a good shaving edge on a few of my blades. Granted, these blades are hollow ground but lately I have been working over a 1/4 ground blade and I am having some fun with working that edge.



Thanks SRP !!

I'm there with ya haha, I am very good with hard steel kitchen knives, that skill set doesn't transfer very well to straights Took a while to get old habbits refined and build new habbits.

Shumate made a great blade