Thread: Desperate Honesterette

So the story goes:

There is a honemeister at the german boards who is the absolute Übermeister!
Everybody loves his edges.
I had the chance to send him a razor I thought I was done with.
Not stropped.
Today he sent it back to me, honed (and stropped I guess). Pic attached.
I admit, my eye-sight leaves a lot to be desired. I’m desperate nevertheless.



So I fiddled with the camera and honed to compare.


1. Blade I thought I was done with, second bevel made on the hone.
2. 3. and 4. Henckels 8000 synthetic hone
5. Thuringian
6. Frankonian
7. 0.1 micron diamond film
8. chromium oxide strop, leather strop
9. 0.1 micron diamond film - again!
10. chromium oxide strop, leather strop again!!!
11. finally the silica gel the old fox recommends

I’m not even close!!!
Now I can’t sleep, LOL
Help or friendly pats (that I don't need an edge like his) appreciated!

Just if anyone’s interested -
pics were taken with my old trusty Olympus E20P
a hookup lens for magnification
and a thuringian rubber under the lens because this gets really shaky.



this is the lens

I am curious to find out what stones (or pastes, or films, etc) the meister used! And how do the shaves compare between yours and the pretty one?

The meister got quite an array.
I don't know what he really used.

On my side it were the henckels up to 8000,
but probably not long enough.
Edge was met, but bevel not polished sufficiently.
Now it is better of course, but only minor.

Hey Olivia,
I actually ran into similar "problems" when I got my Nanis. Except that at least in my case my own honing improved.

I used to have some scratch marks still visible, but still get a great edge using my old hones. But now I have damn near mirror finishes on my edges. They also shave slightly better. The answer unfortunately was that the stones were holding me back. While a tool is a tool, a tool magnifies the user's abilities and translates them into the finished product. And a better tool does a better job. There of course is a point of diminishing returns, but at least in my case, it was the hones that were the problem.

I suspect it is the same with you.

I suggest that you use a 1k grit stone that leaves almost no scratch marks. And spend a little more time on the 4k and the 8k. Thats where its really important to get out the really visible scratches. The rest of the progression should be the same.

A thuringian is the last stone I use(dark), after that I use some chrome ox on a paddle strop, and then I strop. My edges look similar to his. My guess is more strokes on the thuringian. I will have to look next time to see if this happens after the thuringian or the chrome ox. I love it when there are no scratch marks on the bevel.

what the exact magnification on the photos? sorry have a little problem to find out is that 4x or 40x?

They are huge, Sham!
I sized them down to about 20% not to nuke the screen.
Sharpenend and clarified the picture.



This is 1:1
I just checked with the radioshack microscope and I could not see much of a difference to my old edges on that.


Leighton at first I thought it were old scratches, but look at number four.
The old ones are all gone and replaced by diagonal ones on the same hone.

Guess I'll have to get much better at this.

Olivia, how do you know it's not the lighting? Little differences in position can cause surprises.

That's one possibility.

Do you lap on diamond plates? (shame if you dont)

Water- how much do you use? maybe it is contamination from inadequate washing.

Or maybe you are lucky enough to photograph an anomaly observed/theorized by Lenord Lee(Complete Guide to Sharpening)


I don't have the book myself, but have heard about it second hand. He says man-made stone's binder can be too strong...so rather than releasing single particle grits; they can remain clumped together, acting as a much larger abrasive particle.

Kevin, I do lap with w/d paper and rinse thoroughly,
then letting it be. No towels or such.
Just did it before starting out today.
Yeah, I also think there's some larger particle involved.

Just fiddled with another picture.
Lighting is really an issue.

For fun, for me, strop that and see if that glint along the edge disappears.

Looking at # 11 closer this time looks like some rounding of the bevel-just saying.