Thread: Confused

I'm a little confused as to the order of honing a razor.

1. 1000 to set the bevel on badly worn razors or damaged razors.
2. Norton 4000/8000 following a pyramid progression going back and forth between the two sides.

Now, here's where I get confused: It seems some of you go right to the strop from the 8000, yet some of you go to a higher grit before hitting the strop. Meanwhile, it seems some of you like to use a paste between the 8000 and the strop.

Why and what seems to be the best procedure (after the 8000), especially if you are trying to save a buck? And I do realize there are other hones besides the Norton. Just trying to establish a common denominator.

I guess what confuses me is whether a finer hone after the 8000 is optional.

Thanks.

Yeah, Ziggy, I higher grit stone after 8k is optional. For years, guys shaved straight off the 8K. Many of us try to see how wickedly sharp we can get a razor, and higher grit stones and pastes help get a better edge. However, you can get by on 8k. In fact, I can get a really nice shave off of mine, but I do finish up on my Shapton 30K or Nakayama Kiita most of the time.

Originally Posted by ziggy925

I'm a little confused as to the order of honing a razor.

1. 1000 to set the bevel on badly worn razors or damaged razors.
2. Norton 4000/8000 following a pyramid progression going back and forth between the two sides.

Now, here's where I get confused: It seems some of you go right to the strop from the 8000, yet some of you go to a higher grit before hitting the strop. Meanwhile, it seems some of you like to use a paste between the 8000 and the strop.

Why and what seems to be the best procedure (after the 8000), especially if you are trying to save a buck? And I do realize there are other hones besides the Norton. Just trying to establish a common denominator.

I guess what confuses me is whether a finer hone after the 8000 is optional.

Thanks.

I would say it is optional, but I would recommend another step to polish the bevel further. Even if it's only a home made balsa bench hone with chromium oxide on the surface. You will find that that extra step will make a world of difference in most cases.

I myself, for my own razors (not the ones I do for others), go as far as the coticule. It is around the #8000 level. I do have two of them of differing grit size, one is slightly more fine than the other. So I will say that my final stone is a #10000. After that I go to my home made balsa bench hone that has chromium oxide on it and do 20 laps or so and then go to the strop. For me this is my preference. I do think about getting even higher grit hones but why mess with something that I like?

FYI, I do have lapping film all the way up to 0.1 microns and the edge off of it is not my personal preference. But it is 'sharper' than a razor done with my prefered honing method. This is what I ussually use for razors I do for others.

It is up to you. If you like it stick with it. You could experiment with different things over time but there is no need to do so in the beginning.

I agree with the previous posters. In my case I began by going higher because I thought that was the thing to do. Randydance pulled my coat and pointed out that to really know that I had done an adequate job on the 4/8 I should shave test first and be sure. If it was good then I could go up the ladder and if not go back to the 4/8. So shaving off of the 8k was just to gauge the quality of my honing and I still tend to do that. Good shaves but like others I go beyond that before the next shave and maximize the sharpness/smoothness.

Thanks, and I'm a lot less confused now. I saw some photos of razor edges after honing, and it looks like a 4000/8000 followed by some paste on balsa might be all I need for now.

Also, test shaving after the 8000 before going to something finer makes sense, and follows everything taught over in the knife forum.

That is all you will ever need i/ve been using issards paste after my last hone and it realy smooths out edge and adds extra keeness i also have cr.ox i follow up with say 5 laps