Help with honing progression>>>>>

[bjanzen]

Okay,

I know I have been lurking for a while here...... I hate to ask what has been posted before. I know the experts get tired of repeating themselves so I have tried to glean as much from the past as possible.

Anyways, here it goes. I was drawn to this site in a search for info on knife sharpening. I was wanting to get my hunting knife sharp enough to shave with and found this forum. I now have 3 three str8s and two on the way. Been playing with the first two for about three months and have managed one exclusive str8 shave so far. Been dipping my feet in slowly. \

Question is this....... I have a little sharpening stuff from honing knives and my wood block plane. What order should I use and which should I use?

What I have:

1K/6K King waterstone
4K/8K Norton
15, 5, 0.5 Micron 3M sanding paper (Scary Sharp days)
Medium Norton Diamond paste
CrO powder on a balsa strop
Couple of other polishing pastes on balsa
Some raw leather from Hobby Lobby that I strop on.


The following is the guide I have been using for honing.....

http://www.classicshaving.com/page/page/5016459.htm

I have a new razor coming from Lynn for a reference but I want to learn more about honing. Please help>>>>>>>

Thanks, Barry

[JimmyHAD]

Hi Barry, I would use the King 1k to correct and set the bevel if necessary. Once that is done I use Lynn's pyramid honing method just as he described it here. I get consistently great results with this procedure. I am using Naniwas now but I've done it with a Norton 4/8 with the same results many times.

Here is the SRP Wiki honing section for other articles on the various aspects. Following up with chrom-ox on balsa is nice to smooth it out. I have used 1.0, .05, and 0.25 diamond on balsa with good results too. I don't know what the Norton medium paste is. Good that you have a new shave ready razor coming from Lynn to give you something to compare to. I like a hanging strop with the linen or webbed fabric but your leather pieces will do if they are working for you.

[bjanzen]

Jimmy,

Thanks for the advice.... The Norton paste is Grade #1 (0-2 micron) and I forgot that I also have some honing compound that came with my Tormek to use with the leather wheel.....don't know where that would fall in my line up?

Barry

[bjanzen]

Once that is done I use Lynn's pyramid honing method just as he described it here. I get consistently great results with this procedure.

Hadn't seen that Pyramid thing before....... Thanks for that. Will have to try that out.

[JimmyHAD]

Just for the heck of it try the pyramid and shaving off of that after stropping. This will give you an idea of your progress honing. If you get a good shave off the 4/8 go on to the pastes and/or chrom-ox if you want to. If you don't get a good shave go back to the hones and try again. I'm not familiar with the honing compound but someone may come along who would know if it is useful.

[bjanzen]

Just for the heck of it try the pyramid and shaving off of that after stropping. This will give you an idea of your progress honing. If you get a good shave off the 4/8

Tried that....... very uncomfortable. Back to the 4/8K stone.

Can't get my head around going back and forth between grits. Seems like the 4K is just introducing scratches that the 8K is trying to polish out. Seems like the blade is worse than it was. Maybe I should try to find a microscope to inspect things with.

barry

[JimmyHAD]

Tried that....... very uncomfortable. Back to the 4/8K stone.

Can't get my head around going back and forth between grits. Seems like the 4K is just introducing scratches that the 8K is trying to polish out. Seems like the blade is worse than it was. Maybe I should try to find a microscope to inspect things with.

barry

Magnification is a good thing. I like 30x , cause that is what I have, but the hand held microscopes like Radio Shack used to sell are popular with guys. Instead of going back to the 4k you might need to go back to the 1k. I remember in his video series on honing heavydutysg135 saying that most guys who brought razors to him that they weren't able to get shave ready needed further work on the bevel setting.

Here is a Wiki article on bevel setting and here is a real good video of Lynn going through the paces from bevel setting on up. Note the circles and back and forth strokes used before he begins the x stroke IIRC. Honing reminds me of arc welding. It is pretty simple but it isn't easy in the beginning. Learning the stroke, pressures and developing the muscle memory and hand eye coordination takes a little time. Once that is achieved it becomes easier.

[bjanzen]

Jimmy,

I am finally seeing the light

I went to Hobby Lobby and bought a decent microscope with above and below lighting. I was able to see the edge surface and the backlighting showed the micro nicks very well!

Now I think my bevel was set well but I re-did it just to be sure. I took a blade I was restoring. It has been in the tumbler for 36+ hours. I looked at the edge and no nicks!

Now I set the bevel on the 1K and went down the Pyramid from 25 strokes down to 1 on the 4/8K. I noticed that I had crud on my stones from the bottom of the wet basin so I rinsed them well under the sink. I also found that I was applying constant pressure instead of "LIFTING" the scales. Made ALL the difference. I also have to lift slightly as the heel leaves the stone in the X stroke to preserve the edge.

After the honing, I lapped with honing compound and then CroX on balsa and then leather stropped........

Now this blade is MUCH better than the "shave ready" I have been shaving with. Finally ATG shaving is almost comfortable. Not perfection but ALOT closer than I was.

THANKS AGAIN

[JimmyHAD]

Glad to hear that it is improving for you. As you know, the more you do it the better you'll get.