Thread: First attempt at honing

Picked up some lapping paper from Fiberoptics4sale, a granite surface plate from woodcraft (had a store close by). What you see in the pic is a mix of grits, 30, 15, 9, 5, 3, 1 and .3 microns. The sheets are 9x13 so I can get 4 sheets a little over 3" wide by 9" long. These fit the 9"wide granite perfectly. The blue ruler is a paper cutter I have. Used it to cut the lapping paper. Fiberoptics4sale shipped the paper flat in a box, which is good, each grit in its own zip lock bag, nice.

I would say that lapping paper is the easiest way to start honing. I will probably get some stones, but for now I can practice my technique fairly cheaply on lapping paper. When using a surface plate make sure it is clean before putting the paper down. If it isn't completely clean you will really notice it when honing on the finer grits. Putting some water down on the surface then laying the paper down will hold the paper in place a lot better. I also put down water when honing.

Took the Boker I have and progressed from 30 down to .3 doing 5 to 12 laps on each paper followed by 20 laps on a strop, my practice strop from RR. Did a test by pulling it across my arm hairs without touching skin. Wow, it actually cut the hairs! Now how does it shave..... Sunday is shaving day so will follow up then.

i have never tried and have no idea how they (lapping films work)work and not damage the rest portion of the blade.
I know some people swear to lapping films.
Good luck and do let us know how you like the shave.

I hope Sunday isn't the only day of the week that you shave. Not much fun for the other six days.......

J S
~~

Originally Posted by mrsell63

I hope Sunday isn't the only day of the week that you shave. Not much fun for the other six days.......

J S
~~

No, it's just I only need to shave 3 times a week. At work I can by with a little shadow so I shave when I have to. Would it be easier to shave with a straight razor if I shaved every day?

The razor shaved OK, pulled a little. Nicked, um, cut, my self once, right under the nose. Ouch. Took the razor to work and put it under 200x. That's when I saw why it pulled. The razor has pitting and in three places it was still on the cutting edge. On the very tip, about 3/8", didn't hone on the finer grits. Still had rougher marks on tip. This razor may not be salvageable because of the pitting. It would be very difficult to find a clean spot for a new edge. So for now I'll rely on the other 2, a Ludo Red Imp and a Genco. They are in far better condition.

All said, I think the result were good considering the condition of the blade. A little about my "skill" at honing. I do have some experience at honing & regrinding tools. Twist drills, form tools, bowl cutters, end mills, you name it. High speed steel, carbide & industrial diamonds. We use a lot of Norton, Noritake and Citgo abrasives. I know it isn't the quite the same. But, many of the hand skills I have learned carry over to this type of honing. We hold tolerances down as far as 5 micron TIR, with the diamonds.