Thread: Honing problem!HELP!!!!

Hi to all in the forum!

Well,I am new in the forum and bit newbie in straight-razor shaving.
First I bought a Bismarck excellent straight razor,and I needed a hone for it,so I ordered it from one famous supplier.It's Premier hone,and it's,was named as medium/finishing hone.Razor itself was pretty sharp,suitable for "rough" shaving.And than started problems.I was honing it (proper way,I went to one ols barber,which show it,used water,also I fallowed instructions from this site pdf books).And NOTHING,blade became more&more dull (?!),and I became more and more frustrated!Of course I did many X strokes!

Seems it was just finishing stone!What to do?If I go to ebay auction I am afraid that I dont get some finishing stone again.Got better results with a strop itself.

Which hone is suitable for medium (rougher) work??

Also today I bought another excellent razor,antique from Solingen,made of Swedish steel.All mine razor's are now waiting...

Thanks!!!!!!!!

Most of us here use a combo hone, the Norton 4k/8k to do our razor honing and it seems to work real good. Thats not to say you can't use other stones, you certainly can but for starters I think its the best bet.

There is no trickery in honing, if you use the correct angle and correct pressure (which is no say no pressure) and steady movement the razor will hone true. If any of these things is altered the result will be a poorly honed razor or an unequally honed razor. It takes practice, it does not come overnight. Some pick it up faster than others but eventually most do get it right. Some razors hone easier than others and you eventually learn to alter the routine for those individual exceptions. So if you are doing everything right hang in there and you will succeed. Of course if you don't have the inclination to learn it there are those on this site who will hone it to perfection for you for a small fee.

Hey Davor,

Welcome to the forum.

I use both barber hones and a norton 4/8k. I can get a razor scalpel sharp with either one.

The difference? Time. The norton is faster than the barber hones.

I have noticed people in the past indicating not to use any preassure. When I tried that I would put thousands of strokes and not get any results.

I did find an article on Handamerican.com a while back that Keith used a kitchen scale to "weigh" the pressure. So I had asked the group if they can do that as well to see how much "no pressure" really ment. I got results back for anything from .5 lbs to 1.5 lbs. That's quite a bit of "no pressure"

I also found that ebay razors, ok butter knifes, required either more pressure or more time/strokes to get it sharp so on those I bump it up to about 3 lbs. I'll do 50 back & for strokes then flip it over and do 50 more. then go to the X patern.

It's been a while since I was on the board but we used to have a member Tilly that sold barber hones. Don't know if she's still around but she was an ebay seller as well.

Good luck and keep us posted.

George

Tilly is still in business. I got a nice NOS Honemaster from her a few weeks back. You can find her at: http://www.redtrader99.com/hones.html

The nice thing about the Norton's is once you learn how to use them, the task is usually pretty simple and quick. I always say that the less strokes the better. Unfortunately, If restoring a razor with a Barber Hone, you're in for the long ride. Have fun. Lynn

Is the Premier hone a single or double grit? One or two color's.?

Let us know and we can go from there.

Hi guys!!
I m just back from my summer holidays,and found all Your replies!
Many thanks!!!Premier hone is double sided-dark gray colour.It's pretty smaller hone,it seems.

The darkest side of the hone is usually the medium ( coarse) side and the lighter color is typically the fine side. Use the X pattern, see my avatar for the motion, with moderate pressure if the razor does not shave well at all starting with the medium(dark) side of the hone.

If the razors is shaving just OK then use the light ( fine ) side of the hone and finish with a very light pressure.

Others can jump in here and suggest the proper number of laps to use on each side of the hone.
They will need to know how well the razor is currently shaving you and if its a stainless steel blade or not.

Hope this helps,