Thread: If at first you don't succeed? Hone, hone and hone again??

Originally Posted by FTG

I'm working on honing one of my great-grandfather's Bengalls.



All the best,
Michael.

i would be gladly help you out . Just stop honing bengall please. Will better when you have proper hones then you can start honing that blade. i know you are overseas and i am sure we do have a lot member's which will help you.(if you don't mind to send your razor to usa i will keep my words.)
You need higher grit stone . i understand financial problems but there is no other way out.the best solution will be norton 4/8k. easier to learn and get results.
(yuo can buy pastes etc but at the end you will end up spending more money then stone)

I ran into this thread earlier-

http://straightrazorpalace.com/advan...son-sheet.html

this, and other threads and statements by members pretty much say that the 3k and 5k Naniwa are pretty much equal to an 4k/8k Norton, which I didn't know. This means that you pretty much can just look up the info on shaving off the 8k Norton and apply it to your situation. You might be able to get a edge that shaves comfortably after the 5k Naniwa, the Swaty then some CrO (get the 4$ pack from Chris in the classifieds). I still think some 1 micron diamond would help.

As far as not getting it sharp presently, as others have said, you prolly need to get your bevel set. Once you do that the rest pretty much falls into line. I wouldn't worry if it takes you a while, it took me like 5+ hours of work to get my first razor shaveable

It's hard to tell what's going on. One of the best things you can do is get some sort of magnification so you can see the edge you are working on and make sure you bevel is being evenly ground.

As far as an important step that can be easily overlooked is how light a hand you need when honing. You want just enough pressure to keep the bevel touching the stone, no more than that. It makes a world of difference...no kidding.

The biggest thing I see is that there is probably a problem at the 1k level. when it is time to move from this level the razor should be passing the thumb nail test with ease.

From there the pyramid might work better, though the stones seem a little close in grit to one another to pyramid well. This looks like a better set-up for a straight progression.

I would probably do the total number of strokes called for by the conservative pyramid for the 4k Norton on your 3k, then do the 8k Norton strokes on your 5k.

For a final polish given your equipment I would probably go with the 8k Norton number of strokes on your Pike, then see where you are at as far as a shave.

GOT IT!!!
Light strokes, set the bevel, do the pyramid, then strop, strop & strop again!

1K Naniwa - circle strokes then x-strokes till starting to dig into thumbnail

3K / 5K Naniwa pyramids - Starting at 25 (did a couple of these), then a 20 pyramid - and blade started to lightly slice / catch thumb pad

Barber hone - originally tried dry, then water, but the 2nd time I did a 20 pyramid I just used shave stick & water - around 10 strokes

I made my strokes as gentle as possible - the blade was passing thumb pad test - starting to catch.

One thing I stopped doing was wiping water off blade when finishing up on each stone (i.e. 25 strokes on 3K, wipe, 25 strokes on 5k, wipe...)

Taking it to the next level - stropping!

What really got there - to HHT - lots & lots of stropping

First on my linen strop (home made from old pair of jeans)

Then on home-made leather strop.

Lots of light stropping got me there!

So my new honing mantra is:

Keep the strokes light, set the bevel, do the pyramid, then strop, strop & strop again!

ps If you're newer than me - 'set the bevel' just means sharpen on your 1k until it passes thumbnail test (TNT). TNT - when you lightly drag blade over thumbnail and it starts to dig in.

Anyway - I guess it has been one of those 'light bulb' moments where I finally understand.

My shave?
Before the blade was pulling on the chin hairs.
Now it cuts through softly like I'm gently brushing my chin. And I plan to get it sharper - more stropping.

Thanks for reading my excited rant!
It really can happen!!

All the best,
Michael.

Hey Michael. Unless that razor was pretty close to sharp. I doubt you would have actually set the bevel with so few strokes. Bengalls are pretty tough & if there was any rust &/or chips in the edge 40 or 50 strokes may not be enough. Also I suggest you tape the spine while bevel setting unless you are deliberately altering the spine & at this stage prolly not a good idea to attempt that.
And pay heed to Jimmy's wise words. Don't use the TNT beyond bevel setting or you will surely dull the edge.
Glad the Bleckmann is serving you well. This means you have the stropping thing wired Honing just takes more time to get a handle on it.

Hi Oz,

Re bevel setting:
Early on I'd sent the Bengall to King of Knives and the chips were taken out there - so they put the initial edge on. But that still wasn't sharp enough. (Probably also my shaving inexperience, but it wasn't popping hairs).

Then I sent you the Bleckman and put aside the Bengall up until now. The Bleckman has been serving me nicely thankyou. Getting you to hone it also told me what shave ready was supposed to feel like.

Later on, I had more attempts at honing the Bengall but I think I was moving off the 1k too soon.

Eventually the penny dropped (with help from you guys here) and I did a lot of laps on the 1k before I got it to TNT sharp - and I didn't do any more thumbnail testing from there on (only thumbpad on the higher grits).


It's nice to now have the Bengall to keep the Bleckman company in my shave routine!

All the best,
Michael.

If 'King of knives' took out the chips you can guarantee they changed the angle on the edge. It would then have taken you considerable work to re-establish the correct angle on your 1k... as you found.
Congrats on the success . Ain't Bengalls sweet shavers ?