Thread: Learning to Hone

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

As far as equipment goes the Norton is the best for all around work. A barbers hone is great, but I think you need more than one. For learning I would buy the Norton. A paddle strop with .5 diamond paste is a great idea in the beginning too if you really want to shave with the razor, since your honing may not be good enough to take the razor to its ultimate Norton hone shavability. Later it will be plenty all by itself.

A paddle strop is a lot easier to use at the beginning, but I wouldn't substitute a .5 pasted strop for a touchup hone (Swaty). The hone is in the 10-12K range, while the paste is 50K. It will therefore require a lot more work to refresh an edge than even a 12K stone. The Swaty does exactly what you need to refresh the edge. You just have to remember to use it sparingly.

Originally Posted by jmsbcknr

Randy, I am about to use a 1000 for the first time. What changes should I be looking for that gives me the indication to move on to the 4K--thumbnail test, thumb test, hanging hair.....? jmsbcknr

The 1K is just starting the edge. You just need to see visually that you have an even edge to move on to the 4K. You can use the thubnail test to come off the 4K. That tells you you have a sharp edge with no nicks and have not overhoned.

Originally Posted by str8rzrshvr

I am starting my journey on honing and have been in search of a video to watch before I made any attempts at honing a razor. I watched the video link in post #3 of this string a couple of times. Based on the subsequent posts, am I correct in assuming (I really don't like to assume) the way Brian is honing in the video is incorrect?

It's not wrong. People were just suggesting that maybe he had gotten into some bad habits. Turnning over the razor while rolling on the spine avoids accidental contat between the edge and the stone.

On the actual stroke either the x-pattern or heel-leading straight across work the same way. The barber's textbook says that honing on an angle to the edge (instead of perpendicular to it) produces the sharpest edge.

Originally Posted by jmsbcknr

Randy, I am about to use a 1000 for the first time. What changes should I be looking for that gives me the indication to move on to the 4K--thumbnail test, thumb test, hanging hair.....? jmsbcknr

As the other have mentioned look for a uniform bright edge. If you have a microscope that will tell you a lot. The thumbnail test will be the most useful if you do not have a scope. Use the thumbnail test before you begin and after every 25 laps on the 1000 grit. When it feels like its digging in a little and the feel is uniform and smooth for the entire length of the blade then you can move on to the 4000 stone, but not before.
The purpose of the 1000 stone is to remove any nicks, rust, pitting or other minor oxidation that is on the bevel and to end up with a bevel composed of healthy steel as well as a well formed bevel.

Hope this helps,

If the 1000 grit is so aggressive, would it not be better to use a 1200 grit stone, like the Col. Conk hone?


http://tinyurl.com/7wggz


RT

Originally Posted by rtaylor61

If the 1000 grit is so aggressive, would it not be better to use a 1200 grit stone, like the Col. Conk hone?

A 1200 stone wouldn't make much difference I actually use A 1220 diamond hone for this. The Col. Conk hone is a razor hone, so it's probably a lot finer than 1200, probably about 6K.

The 1K is too coarse for a razor. It's jus used to pare it down to the point where you can hone normally.

So the consensus seems to be:

- Get a Norton 4k/8k hone
- Get a new razor to practice on
- Use either a pasted strop or a Swaty hone to maintain my current razor

I already have the DOVO paddle strop, with leather on one side and wood on the other, coated with red paste. Will this do for maintenance, or am I better off with a Swaty hone?

Both Norton hones and new razors are a bit pricey. I can probably fit one or the other into my budget, but not both. I'm inclined to go with the Norton hone and ebay razors.

However, there's a barber in my area who I believe has some razors he no longer uses. I talked to him a while ago in search of shaving advice, and while he wasn't very helpful (I believe his exact word were "Do you face a favor -- get a Gillette"), he made an off-hand comment about having a bunch of razors gathering dust somewhere. It seems like these are likely to be in better shape the average ebay razor, plus I can inspect them before I buy. I assume he has hones also -- are these likely to be suitable for a beginner to learn on?

The downside to this plan is I will probably have to endure another lecture on how straight razors are more trouble than they're worth ;-)

Sounds like your barber is cranky...Anyway, my advice, for what it's worth, is to get a razor from a honemeister here so that you have a goal to shoot for (i.e an example of how sharp a well honed razor can be!). That's the route I took.
Best,
Mark

I already have a razor sharpened by Lynn, though it's no longer as sharp as it was when he gave it to me.

Well if you send him a 20-spot, he'll get it wickedly sharp!