Thread: Honing

Hello all,
I had two straight razors "professionally" honed. (note the quotation marks)
They didn't stay sharp long, so I just tried using a 4000/8000 Norton water stone. I noticed that with both razors and on both grits, that it left a black smear on the stones. Something I'm doing wrong, or is this normal? Should I be starting off with a coarser grit then 4000?
I realize this has probarly been asked before and I'm just not finding the thread.
Thank you in advance for the help.

the black smear is removed metal from the razor, make sure to clean it regularly or the stone might glaze and not work as well on the steel.

I would have contacted the person that honed your razors before attempting to "fix" the problem yourself.

Most honemeisters stand behind their work and will try to make you happy.

With that said, the problem was probably you. There are many factors that can cause a bad shave/tugging.

Bad lather. Bad preparation. Bad stropping. Bad Technique.

Some quick questions???

When you say not long I notice that you have been a member here for almost 1 year how many shaves did you get from these razors????

I am assuming from the way you wrote, that the razors were sharp when you first got them back??? so you know what sharp should feel like???

Honestly here and no disrespect intended, but if you are asking what the black mark is on the stone, you really need to do some serious reading in the Wiki and in the threads that the Wiki links to about honing on the Norton 4/8 before you do more damage to the razor....

I will be more than happy to help you after you do some reading in there, and before you put those razors back on that Norton ...

Based on this: http://straightrazorpalace.com/vendo...g-service.html

I'm guessing it has been around 8 months since last honing?

That is a pretty good run.

If it had just started to pull, you probably could have brought it back with a barber hone and/or pasted strop me thinks.

This is all me guessing and making assumptions though.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Some quick questions???

When you say not long I notice that you have been a member here for almost 1 year how many shaves did you get from these razors????

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Honestly here and no disrespect intended, but if you are asking what the black mark is on the stone, you really need to do some serious reading in the Wiki and in the threads that the Wiki links to about honing on the Norton 4/8 before you do more damage to the razor....

Glen is right on the money as he usually is. Send those out and get a couple of ebay or flea market razors to practice on.