Thread: Why X-strokes?

I do mine pretty much the same way with the exception I tend to use the back and forth strokes rather than circles. I do use the circles when I get a razor that is a bit of a problem getting a good edge on.

Lol sorry JoeD I remembered that I just forgot to put it in! Sorry my bad! I use that method on my J-nat and and works wonders.

Originally Posted by khaos

Lol sorry JoeD I remembered that I just forgot to put it in! Sorry my bad! I use that method on my J-nat and and works wonders.

No problem. Just need rto be sure the others reading this thread have a full understanding of the complete process.

I was hoping to have more time to explain the whys and hows but this will have to do:

I work mostly with antique shop, flea market and EBay razors. That's what fits my budget and I enjoy the hunt as do CarrieM and JrJoeD.

These razors as well as some NOS finds have, at best a slightly wavy edge. When I was doing just laps I found that some areas of the edge came to a good edge before other parts of the edge. Continuing with x-strokes produced wire edge (over honing) in the areas already sharp. I would have to do a few back strokes to break the wire edge, then more x-strokes to refine the edge. I would repeat this process until the complete edge was sharp but some parts were sharper than others. I thought back to some posts here by Lynn and others about doing circles to metal faster. This is also a common Tool and Die process. Back and forth motions work well also but circles cut faster since a;; pf the grit is always cutting the peaks of the scratches down and not running over valleys.

I found that the circles didn't produce a wire edge and I was able to get the whole length of the blade to the same sharpness. Yea, I might be removing more metal than really needed but I am guaranteed a good edge and no wire edge. Besides, the amount of metal removed with the hones we are using is minimal and most of it needs to come off anyway. Also, I am not wasting time flipping the blade to get all of the needed metal off. Now ya need to know that working one side at a time for a period of time, like a minute per side, will produce a burr on the other side. Once I finish the timed circles I do say 10 back and forth strokes with very light pressure to break the burrs. Than I do ~ 10 x-pattern strokes with minimal pressure/no pressure to refine the edge. When setting the bevel I do the TNT until I am sure the whole edge 'bites' into my nail. Then I do ~ 30 seconds/side to remove the damage from the test, back and forth to break the burr and ~ 10 x-pattern laps to refine the edge. Next I check the cut for the length of the blade on arm hairs, shich are very scarce, trying to cut one hair at a time in numerous parts of the blade. Moving up to the next hone I repeat the process to polish the edge so maybe 30 seconds/side, break the burrm then ~ 10 laps. After the 8k I went to the coticule and did 100 laps, water only. Then the same for the Chinese natural hone. Ya should know I do 100 laps on the in about 1.5 minutes on each hone. Holli4pirating asked me if we could do circles on the coticule and Chinese hone since everyone can't do 100 x-pattern laps in 1.5 minutes. I tried it recently and the results are acceptable on the few blades I tried it on but I still like the results of the 100 laps better.

Things to remember:

1) This process should still be considered experimental.
2) Each blade is different than the previous so times and laps should be adjusted for what the razor being honed really needs
3) When starting the circles mild pressure is OK but should be reduced to mimimal/no pressure towards the end when the edge is almost finished on the hone in use.
4) When doing the x-pattern be aware of possible wire edge, don't over hone, circles on the nest hone will break wire edge, use almost no pressure.
5) Enjoy your honing and the resulting shaves!

Good luck!

This method is as easy as shooting fish in a barrel with no water. And it works.