Thread: honing noob - vintage blade honing help needed

I have a vintage blade I received a while back that was sold as "shave-ready", which obviously was not shave ready. I tried shaving with it once and pretty much put it away and forgot about it until today.

looking it over and knowing more now than I did when I got it, I can tell that whoever honed it previously did a poor job...from heel to toe there is quite some variation....some areas look like there was too much pressure, other areas (heel) look like the hone may not have even touched the blade, at least not enough to establish a bevel. I was thinking about getting this blade up to snuff to shave with, but had some questions.

I am not against trying to hone it back to life myself, but keep in mind that I do not have a stone lower than 4k. Would it be possible for me to even out the bevel and possibly establish the bevel where it has not been set using my 4k?

If not, I suppose I am going to have to send out for someone else to do the initial honing for me, right?

Any and all opinions/advice are greatly appreciated. While I have been around a while as a member, I am a noob when it comes to honing, so I could use all the help I can get. Thanks guys, I appreciate it!

You can use the 4k to re-establish the bevel, but personally I don't have enough patience for that so I use a coarser hone. But if you don't mind spending a little extra time on the 4k than for sure it can be done. Do you have another razor that is shave-ready that you can use? I only ask because if this is your only razor, I would just send it out to get honed by someone here so you're not relying on it for a shave.

If you have at least another real shave-ready blade, then it would be a great way to practice honing on this razor, granted you don't screw it up totally.

Just spend your time on the 4k until the thumb pad test tells you that you have a good bevel set and it should pop hairs fairly well at this level. It may take a lot of strokes if the bevel isn't set properly initially, but as long as you have patience you should be fine. :gl

thanks, dave. I have another razor, so maybe I will take a stab at it. I know this is probably a very unfair answer and one you cannot at all accurately answer due to tons of factors, but I'm gonna ask it anyway:

when you say it may take "a lot" of strokes, would you say we are likely talking 100+, 200+, etc.? I don't mind doing that many, but what would your best estimate be. again, I know this is almost a totally unanswerable question, and I will not hold you to your answer, but if you had to guess a range, what might you say?

I will have to just see as I'm going along, how it's progressing, but it's always nice to have a mindset going into it what exactly I may be in for.

thanks, dave......don't hate me

Haha, I won't hate you. Since I've never set a bevel on the 4k I really don't have any idea. My guess would be anywhere from 50-100? I could be way off, and I've never tried it so I don't speak from experience. But unless you need to hone a chip out of the bevel or hone it after it was breadknifed I don't see it taken more than 100. If it takes more, don't hold me to that number!

It certainly depends on the starting point and the hardness of the steel, but I think you are looking at a lot more than 100 strokes on a 4k. Of course, you can speed it up with some pressure (only if you are able to keep it even across the blade) and/or some alternative strokes like clrcle strokes or Japanese strokes.

Originally Posted by Utopian

It certainly depends on the starting point and the hardness of the steel, but I think you are looking at a lot more than 100 strokes on a 4k. Of course, you can speed it up with some pressure (only if you are able to keep it even across the blade) and/or some alternative strokes like clrcle strokes or Japanese strokes.

What Are Japanese Strokes?

Before you start racking away on that razor you might wanna wait and watch the web-cast from the NC meet up where Lynn shows his new "40 circles to sharp" that he has been doing.. the vids should almost be ready....

Being as your razor had previously been sharpened albeit poorly this might bring it right back....
This technique really works fast and works consistently on razors in OK shape..

Some variations of Lynn's technique have been working on some restorations too, but I haven't experimented enough yet to call it consistent, so far so good though...

Originally Posted by jendeindustries

What Are Japanese Strokes?

Much like a chisel sharpening stroke, back and forth along the hone on one side...

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Before you start racking away on that razor you might wanna wait and watch the web-cast from the NC meet up where Lynn shows his new "40 circles to sharp" that he has been doing.. the vids should almost be ready....

That sounds very intriguing. I'll be looking forward to it!

Originally Posted by jendeindustries

What Are Japanese Strokes?

Glen already answered this, but if you watch the Livi videos, you'll see them in action.