Thread: Honing Technique

Way to go!

Those Paki's can be a PITA. Although you can get them very sharp the quality of the shave is rotten. It just feels coarse on the skin. But they are good for honing practice!

Originally Posted by johnnyhotdog

just to let you know, i've been reading this thread with interest. i have followed the advice given on my e-bay pakistani special as a trial run and it's come up pretty keen

i was surprised because it really is a piece of s**t!

i found initially that i was having problems by being too slow and carefull - by using slightly faster, more confident strokes i seemed to be getting a better result and could keep the blade flat on the stone in the correct position.

thanks everyone!

Although you can get them very sharp the quality of the shave is rotten.

there'll be NO shaving with pakistani steel! it is good to practice with though and it doesn't matter if you mess it up

i honed my dovo special afterwards and have shaved with it - much better than before but still not "right". i think i'll set myself 10 minutes honing and stropping practice a day and hopefully there'll be an improvement before too long!

I bought a nice DD Wonderedge and put it to the stones this week. I used an agressive pyramid (15/5 down) on the Shapton 5k and Kitayama 8k with little to no pressure with mediocre shave results, but it did shave. I then decided to go to the 8k/15k standard pyramid. I was able to complete a shave with it at this point but it was not super close or comfy.

Questions?

1. Would you try backhoning before going at the stones again?

2. Would you drop down to a corse grit like 2k and start over again?

3. Would you repeat the original process?

TIA
Larry

"i found initially that i was having problems by being too slow and carefull - by using slightly faster, more confident strokes i seemed to be getting a better result and could keep the blade flat on the stone in the correct position."


One of my big epiphanies as well...

Originally Posted by johnnyhotdog

there'll be NO shaving with pakistani steel! it is good to practice with though and it doesn't matter if you mess it up

i honed my dovo special afterwards and have shaved with it - much better than before but still not "right". i think i'll set myself 10 minutes honing and stropping practice a day and hopefully there'll be an improvement before too long!

Here is my question: Would it be bad to hone the same razor for 10 minutes a day? Or would it have little impact as long as one takes it easy? I honed my new razor tonight for a while and it didn't seem to cause much 'wear and tear'.

I jut got my new DOVO and had my first straight shave ever. It was interesting and I think I will stick with it. I tried to use the pyramid pattern to hone the edge. I started to get the hang of it but it took a little time. I was able to shave my cheek without too much discomfort at all, and got a pretty good shave. It seemed to pull a little too much on the other cheek so I stopped. I then honed it again, stopped and shaved against the grain on my neck (because I hastily finished the job with my mach III) because there were some spots. I got 90% of these spots with slight discomfort.

Originally Posted by ryan_a

Here is my question: Would it be bad to hone the same razor for 10 minutes a day? Or would it have little impact as long as one takes it easy? I honed my new razor tonight for a while and it didn't seem to cause much 'wear and tear'.

I've spent HOURS on some razors just trying to get it down and experience very little wear and tear as you say. My thing is to leave the ones I really like shaving with till I'm confident to try them after I feel I've passed a little hurdle on the learning curve.

X

Originally Posted by randydance062449

Because an angled striation(scratch pattern) shaves better.

I've been trying to get information on this but have been entirely unsuccessful. Where did you get this information?

I've been doing some investigation and I find that the sharpest blade I know, the Feather, has scratch lines that are perpendicular to the edge. All commercial razor blades have such lines, and many are sharper than a hand honed str8. So, I've begun to woner if the slanted lines are really better in some way.

Maybe it is just historical because of the size of stones. Maybe it has something to do with hand sharpening.

Has anyone looked at a brand new str8 under a microscope and noticed how the scratch lines from the factory look?

Hello Ryan,

Try the aggressive sequence again. Light pressure. Strop and test shave.
You should notice a difference. Have you now tried both the aggressive and conservative sequences?

Randy Tuttle

Originally Posted by ryan_a

Here is my question: Would it be bad to hone the same razor for 10 minutes a day? Or would it have little impact as long as one takes it easy? I honed my new razor tonight for a while and it didn't seem to cause much 'wear and tear'.

I jut got my new DOVO and had my first straight shave ever. It was interesting and I think I will stick with it. I tried to use the pyramid pattern to hone the edge. I started to get the hang of it but it took a little time. I was able to shave my cheek without too much discomfort at all, and got a pretty good shave. It seemed to pull a little too much on the other cheek so I stopped. I then honed it again, stopped and shaved against the grain on my neck (because I hastily finished the job with my mach III) because there were some spots. I got 90% of these spots with slight discomfort.

Randy,

I didn't use the aggressive method yet. But this morning I stroped more carefully and I was able to shave my entire face really well. It was pretty comfortable and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I will use the aggressive step tonight when I get back from school. I will check on the DOVO conditioning question now.

Hello Lerch,

I did not get the info from anyone that I can remember. It does make sense to me. The fin on a razor being similar to a fin on a fish is a web with sharp points. The web closes up and the sharp points are more closely packed together as the fish swims thru water. The fin on the razor would act in a similar manner as you shave. There would be less space between each sharp point as a person shaved. I know that the idea of a fin being flexible could/will be hotly debated. My position is that it has a small degree of flex due to its thinness. My major point is that the angled striations present to the whisker an edge that has less space between the sharp points especially if one uses the scything motion or a tip(toe) leading stroke.

OK, let the discussion begin!

Originally Posted by Joe Lerch

I've been trying to get information on this but have been entirely unsuccessful. Where did you get this information?

I've been doing some investigation and I find that the sharpest blade I know, the Feather, has scratch lines that are perpendicular to the edge. All commercial razor blades have such lines, and many are sharper than a hand honed str8. So, I've begun to woner if the slanted lines are really better in some way.

Maybe it is just historical because of the size of stones. Maybe it has something to do with hand sharpening.

Has anyone looked at a brand new str8 under a microscope and noticed how the scratch lines from the factory look?