Thread: Desperate Honesterette

It looks like to me the silica gel #11 is a lot rougher than the CrO #10.

bj

Olivia, I just honed a razor and finished water only on a dark green Thuringian and looked at the blade under magnification and it looked like your #6, so I stropped on some Chrome oxide and stropped 100x on leather and it looked like #3, I did it again and it looked like #7. It is the pasted paddle and then the regular strop that is making the mirror shine(no scratches) on the bevel. Which is probably no surprise since that is what pastes do is polish. Just my nickels worth.

Originally Posted by nun2sharp

...Just my nickels worth.

Inflation.

i would say what we see is bevel and nice polishing job .to make sure 100% sharpness of the blade we have to see the edge. i would say that person is very very good honer.
hope this helps.

i am hoping i didn;t put negative impulse to this post. it is great post and very helpful to rest of us.thank you Olivia

Originally Posted by JMS

Inflation.

Okay! So I was being generous today! Sheeesh!

Hello Olivia;

Are you speaking of Bartisto? Maybe I have to pay him a visit too.
I have been experiencing exactly the same thing you did.
I have that razor I really like and that was quite expensive, I might add.

As soon as I got a microscope that produced enough magnification and clearness
I spottet the same points and pits along the very edge that you have in your pictures.

I wouldn´t bother the imperfectly polished face.
It doesn´t matter, as long as the edge itself is pit-free.
I am at a point were the face of my edge looks exactly like the "him" picture.
But I still have these lightspots along the edge.
At even higher magnification I think I had been able to see
a fold over burr.
Maybe this is what you have right there.
But what did it came from? Did your razor feel hard or rather soft on your hones?
Did the razor pass HHT even though it was jagged like that?
Becaus mine did

btw. why not ask the honemister what he did different,
or if he had to do something special

btw. #2 the silica on glass was considered by him to be around 10k
and to be used before CrOx

OK guys, bevel studies are very interesting. I really would like to know how the edges studied shave. It's not the looks but the feel that counts.

BTW there is a post here somewhere that proves that changing the angle of the lighting causes dramatic changes in the looks of an edge. Little scratches can be made to look big and vice versa.

@Olivia: did you not change any of the other variables?

What are you desperate about?

His edges look good to me. Try grabbing your pastes and working on your edge for 20 minutes (#7, 9, or 10 is it?).

It took me a few years to get good at honing but your edges should look smooth like that too (although, yes, lighting is an issue).

Originally Posted by Kees

OK guys, bevel studies are very interesting. I really would like to know how the edges studied shave. It's not the looks but the feel that counts.

@Olivia: did you not change any of the other variables?

+1 on the shave quality.

I've had to polish metal in my past life (career path) as a Tool and Die Maker. TheBigSpender has a thread on what Hell would be like. I find polishing metal to be a type of Hell because I don't have the patients for it. Some people like to do it. Because I really hate polishing and had to do it I as part of my job I asked all of the professionals I worked with (other Tool and Die Makers, Engineers and Metallurgists) how to obtain the best results the quickest. I tested all of their recommedations and developed a hybrid method. It's still a pita for me because of the time and cleanliness but a little more acceptable.

Here are some tips that I can remember:

The work area, tools, your hands and anything else coming into contact with the item being polished needs to be clean of dirt and dust.

The polishing tools, media and item being polished need to be clean of other grits as well as your hands and anything else that will come into contact with the item being polished.

The metal being polished off needs to be flushed away quickly. Metal rubbing on metal causes scratches.

All scratches from previous grit needs to be removed before moving to the next finest grit.

Alternating your stroke between grits makes it easier to see the previous scratches and easier to wee when that have been removed.

Use extremely light pressure to reduce the depth of the scratches.

Softer materials embedded with polishing compounds will produce better finished.

Now with that said, I have not employed all of these methods on honing razors because I am not looking for a mirror finish at this time. Maybe some day.

Most all razors I hone are from antique shops, flea markets and some from EBay so they are mostly restorations. Here's what I do:

Marker test to determine the the condition of the bevel, spine and blade itself. Adjust the stroke as needed if no other repairs are needed.

TNT to determine the hone to start with.

Rub the blade on the hone selected in circles with mild pressure if there is not edge for a time like 30 seconds to a minute per side. 10 strokes x pattern with very light pressure. TNT again. Repeat until the edge bites into my nail for the length of the blade. Once satisfied I do a about 15 seconds per side in circles again and then 10 more x pattern laps. Be sure to keep the hone well flushed with water for the entire process and as clear of the metal removed as possible. I work sections of the hone and move to another section of the hone while working the one side, clean the hone and work the other side of the blade. Test on arm hairs for edge quality.

Now the edge is set. All other hones will be polishing the bevel and refining the edge. Clean the razor of the previous grit. Perform circle pattern on each side until the scratch pattern matches the grit of the hone, about 30 seconds per side and then inspect. Repeat as needed. !0 strokes x pattern. Test on arm hairs for edge quality. Repeat as needed. Work through all of your hones in this manor through your 8k hone. Beyond this point I just perform x pattern strokes. If you are looking for a mirror finish you may want to continue the circles (polishing the metal) followed by the x stroke or what ever your blade needs. You will have to experiment here (this should all be considered an experiment).

Now for the polishing compounds, if this is where you would like to go. If you are going to use a canvas or paddle strop it needs to be clean of dust and other grits and your blade needs to be clean also. To repeat myself, everything needs ot be clean between each step or you will need to go back. As a Tool and Die Maker I used paper impregnated with polishing compound on a flat surface. To impregnate the paper I would put a smooth thin layer on the paper, put a piece of clean flat metal on top and wack it with a hammer. A small piece of metal will do and just move it around. The compound should be very very thin, like a film and does not need to cover every square inch og paper. Wipe off the excess compound and run your blade over it. Copy paper or news paper will do if it is clean. I used a material called stencil board. It is a heavy, smooth, oil impregnated paper used to cut stencils out of to psint letters and patterns on items. The yellow is better than the brown. Here is a link to it: BUY OILED STENCIL BOARD 18X24

I put a film of light oil on the stencil board. Starrett oil works best. If you use copy paper or news paper go dry.

Like I said, I don't go for a mirror finish on my bevels so experiment with this process. I do hone my razors as described but remember I am doing restorations mostly. I do the circle pattern while honing/polishing to prevent wire edge. I'm lazy and I hate polishing but I know the process I mentioned will produce a mirror finish on metal.

Good luck! I'd be interested in hearing about your results if you try this process.

Whow!!! Thank you guys for all the helpful answers!
Joed, sorry I can only hit the TY-button once!

Sham, do not worry. I would not ever assume that you do this, if its not justified or due to a language thing (that I perfectly understand btw).

The guy - yes Benny, sure its Bartisto's work - IS a very good honer with a lot of experience. He tried my blades also and his judgement was as devestating as the picture. Too bad I can't try them myself. Of course the shaving quality is all that counts.

I always ask my customers if the relationship allows and a couple of them have more razors than one. They never said that my blades were honed bad. Rather the opposite! Right now I'm not so grateful for those raves cause I see there's a lot of room for improvement.

Kees the lighting slightly varies with the angle. The last picture is from a new setup, so some of its look might be due to this.