All Along The Blade

A new observaton as I evolve:

I have found a very nice routine for bringing decent to good blades to very good shaving condition. It's quite different from bringing fair to poor blades up to snuff. The pressure I use while holding the razor at the shank is very light to non existant. I am finding that the heel of the blade will pop hanging hairs with ease, while the mid section and point section are late to the party. Is this a normal occurance? Should I repeat sequence? It kind of makes sense to me that this would happen since the tip section is so far from the hand which has to put SOME pressure on the stone. Are there any tricks to compensate for
this?

As I am writing this, I just thought about the x pattern and how this might be why it's so good for honing. I don't use it every time, but I did with a blade the other night and it tested all along the blade with no issues. While the heel comes off the stone the muscles in the hand must compensate and put a little extra pressure on the tip portion in order to keep it on the stone.

I know, I know; get a life.

Thanks

KD,

Sorry, I don't have an answer for you, but I don't think you need a life, or else I need to get one too, because I experienced the same thing on the razor I bought to teach myself to hone and would love to see some of the experts opinions.

Good post, and I hope you get some good answers that I can borrow! :cool:

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Originally Posted by Darkwolf

KD,
Sorry, I don't have an answer for you, but I don't think you need a life, or else I need to get one too, because I experienced the same thing on the razor I bought to teach myself to hone and would love to see some of the experts opinions.
Good post, and I hope you get some good answers that I can borrow! :cool:

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DW
Fwhew! Thanks for that. I thought I was losin' it for a minute.

I too have noticed the difference from tip to heel of the blade now that I'm honing on a Norton (3" wide) when I put no pressure on the blade. When I was using my Arkansas stones (only 2" wide) and had to use the X-pattern, the entire edge progressed at the same speed.

Whether or not this is the proper way to compensate, I don't know, however, I use both hands to hone and have found that putting a very small amount of pressure on the tip side of the blade seems to balance my honing.

My guess is that the weight of the handle adds some pressure on the heel of the blade and I've balanced that with my off hand. I assume I could accomplish the same thing by ever so slightly lifting the handle, but there is no way that I've a fine enough touch to attempt that and still keep the blade flat on the hone.

FWIW--Ed

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ForestryProf

Whether or not this is the proper way to compensate, I don't know, however, I use both hands to hone and have found that putting a very small amount of pressure on the tip side of the blade seems to balance my honing.
FWIW--Ed

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Thanks for that Prof. I had been using two hands, and still do when trying to restore an edge, but I wanted to see how it would go using a one handed pyramid approach with 8k and 15k stones. The results on my first try were quite dramatic, producing my best edge yet. As I think about it, I might have been concentrating more on the x pattern on that first one.

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Originally Posted by Korndog

A new observaton as I evolve:

I have found a very nice routine for bringing decent to good blades to very good shaving condition. It's quite different from bringing fair to poor blades up to snuff. The pressure I use while holding the razor at the shank is very light to non existant. I am finding that the heel of the blade will pop hanging hairs with ease, while the mid section and point section are late to the party. Is this a normal occurance? Should I repeat sequence? It kind of makes sense to me that this would happen since the tip section is so far from the hand which has to put SOME pressure on the stone. Are there any tricks to compensate for
this?

As I am writing this, I just thought about the x pattern and how this might be why it's so good for honing. I don't use it every time, but I did with a blade the other night and it tested all along the blade with no issues. While the heel comes off the stone the muscles in the hand must compensate and put a little extra pressure on the tip portion in order to keep it on the stone.

I know, I know; get a life.

Thanks

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You have a life, and it is known as shaving, LOL ..... The edge will develop in stages and as you progress in your honing you will develop the 'rock-n-roll' that sort of keens things up all at the same time. The 'trick' is to sort of rock the curve of the blade down during the X-pattern .... it's more difficult to describe than show, unfortunately .... daviduthe

I always keep both hands on the hone. I usually keep my index finger of my off hand at the tip of the blade to help maintain an even pressure or at least keep both ends more stable and in contact with the hone in the same way.

I find the blade hones up evenly this way. before doing this when I only used one hand especially before I had the norton and was using barber hones and doing the x pattern I had alot of problems with uneven sharpening.

Try using your little finger as a lever on the handle of the razor to even out the pressure. Again, as David said, its easier to show than describe and it also takes some practice.

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Originally Posted by randydance062449

Try using your little finger as a lever on the handle of the razor to even out the pressure. Again, as David said, its easier to show than describe and it also takes some practice.

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I think i get it. slightly lift the very end of the handle with your lottle finger.

I am unsure, but I think over lifting the handle as mentioned, or over rolling to the contact to the toe of the blade, is what causes the toe of the blade to be pushed back slightly. This is a problem to achieve an edge there in my limited experience. The slightly rounded or "smiling" edges will of course require this rolling and I do find that using the same motion, even though any movement is imperceptible on a dead straight edge, helps get the whole edge keen. Careful is the word as usual. I started with two hands, but quickly found more comfort with one and am closing in on consistency ... I think.

I must say, describing the single handed grip with a fulcrum where and little fingers doing what, must be tough to explain. I've been reading about it and trying to understand what you guys are talking about for weeks and I haven't a clue how to compare what I'm doing to what is said. Guess I'll have to wait till Lynn gets that video going.

X

I use an approach like Randy mentioned where I provide some support for the handle.


But I thought I would mention something I read somewhere. Sorry, I don't remember where. Someone noted that the height of the hone made a difference. For example , as you raise it one end of the blade gets honed more whereas when you you lower it's the other end. It had something to do with the biomechanics of the arm with the hone at different heights.

In any case, some of you might want to experiment having the hone at different heights until you find one that causes things to be even.