Thread: Honing Terminology

It seems there are several ways to describe the number of strokes, passes, each side, laps, etc. when we post our honing methods. Once in awhile, someone - usually a new guy - wil post the question "Is that twenty passes on one side of the blade or both sides of the blade".
This occasional confusion could be mostly cleared up, if not eliminated, by using a more descriptive term like "Round Trips" on the hone instead of "strokes" on the hone.
This is just a thought to make it simpler for some people. I like to keep it simple if I can. For instance, Glenlivet, what else is there?
Jerry

Given that most honing and stropping actions are done symmetrically to both sides, the terminology should be clear to always mean round trips. I consider round trip and strokes to be synonymous in this context. For example, the pyramid info lists number of strokes taken and for the aggressive pyramid you are to start with 15 strokes. That doesn't mean 8 on one side of the blade and 7 on the other. It's 15 round trips. I can't think of anything discussed here that truly refers to single strokes.

Originally Posted by Utopian

Given that most honing and stropping actions are done symmetrically to both sides

That might be what the new guy doesn't assume - when I first started playing with straight razors I found a youtube video showing a guy honing in a way I naively thought was perfectly fine (and maybe it is ): He would push the razor down the hone, lift the razor off the hone, return it to its starting position, and then push the razor down the hone again. After doing this a few times, he'd start the razor from the opposite end of the hone and pull it toward him.

Anyway, I don't remember ever actually trying that method myself, and I'm not even sure what I'm trying to say with this post. Maybe it is don't assume too much to be given when it comes to newcomers

I gotta agree with the Leemiester, that vid is out there and rather well done I might add...

Myself I always use the term "laps" which infers "round trips" as a lap is actually what?? yes a round trip because you must go "around" to complete a lap" I would probably refer to what Lee is referring to as a stroke because I would want to differentiate the difference between honing one side of the razor using a corrective "stroke" rather than the more common usage of a full honing "lap" or stropping 'lap" which of course would be from handle to hanger then from hanger to handle to denote one full "round trip" or "lap" I hope you are following me here..........

I picture it this way....

1 stroke on one side = 1/2 lap
1 return stroke on the other side = 1 lap (or one round)

As in track and field athletics... running around the track.

My very good intention was to clarify this terminology for new guys to get them on the right track asap. These guys are confused enough when they start out.

Sorry I got you old, experienced honers all riled up. By the way, are there any Glenlivet fans among you??? I've made more than a few "Round Trips" to the liquor store in my time. I usually take the scenic route...... you know, a couple extra laps around the block......! Jerry

I will probably be excommunicated for admitting this, but I have yet to look at our Wiki (by the way, just what does wiki mean?). Do we have a glossary? If so all these subtleties could be nuanced on those lexigraphic pages; if not, we should probably get one going. Then Noobs and Ancients alike could be directed there to increase their understanding of... stuff.

If there is confusion out there and we are trying to come up with a unified term to refer to a stroke on each side, why not stick with a term that is already widely used and understood to mean just that...."lap"....rather than deciding to use a term that is used much less....."round trip"

Plus for how long this site has been around and how rarely I see the question come up I have to assume that this isn't really that much of an issue.