Thread: Honing Mistakes?

My mistake was buying 60 + hones.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

My mistake was buying 60 + hones.

That's chuckle worthy

Too much pressure for me.

I was like a bull in a china shop.



Oh, and Ebay. Yeah, go figure.

You mean mistakes, as in shit we do that isn't "right"?

Well, I set my bevels as if I'm sharpening a knife (lots of pressure, 25strokes per side, then 15 then 10 then 8 then 6 ....) I can't imagine the time setting a bevel alternating each stroke must take, especially if you need to work out chips.


Or as in actual mistakes... Just now I took a razor that looked like it had a bevel, polished it on 1200, then went to bear 4k/~8.5k Dimohone/~10k Swaty/ ChromOx strop... checking the polish on the edge after each step... admiring the 100x magnification of the edge on the $5 kiddie microscope I got at goodwill... Then I try the HHT... the heel passes easily. Awesome, says I. Try center and toe. Nothing. Hmm... Swipe at a patch of arm hair... wont even cut that.


I just polished an edge to 0.5 micron... that didn't even meet at the center. I may as well have spent half an hour stropping a butterknife on ChromOx. Serves me right for not testing it off the 1.2k DMT.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

My mistake was buying 60 + hones.

Sorry, but I just have to ask -- have you really bought 60 or more hones??

Originally Posted by sffone

Sorry, but I just have to ask -- have you really bought 60 or more hones??

Yes I have. See my avatar....

Jimmy if you bought 60 hones already maybe you want to sell a couple? To say someone like me? You know that way you can have some extra cash to pick up a few more...

Originally Posted by economica

Jimmy if you bought 60 hones already maybe you want to sell a couple? To say someone like me? You know that way you can have some extra cash to pick up a few more...

I would but I need them all.

The honing mistake I made the most, and still do, although only twice a year or so lately, is called "wishful thinking".
All pointers say that the edge is not ready for finishing, or stropping, or test shaving, or whatever, but I do so anyway. Expecting some miraculous way of everything falling into place. It never does. You could throw all parts required to build an engine from the top of a building, and never they would fall "accidentally" into place and deliver a working engine. But still, every now and then, I find myself doing the razor-sharpening version of that behavior.

PS. I'm probably going to stir the pot with this... but flipping over the spine is not slower. Not in terms of trajectory, and certainly not in terms of ergonomics. It's probably the best way for learning how to hone fast without being counterproductive. (honing fast is not required, but using methods that require many laps, I like it ) Trying to speed up, is very likely to invite you to start an occasional stroke before the razor is fully flipped. Flipping it over the spine, there's not harm in that. But turning otherwise, starting too early will throw in the proverbial monkey wrench.
However unnatural it may feel to muscle memory at first, it does become second nature after a while.

Best regards,
Bart.

I am guilty of wishful thinking too!

Re: flipping the razor. I've never had the ability to flip it on it's side without fumbling with my grip on the turn (irrespective of the grip I'm trying). That's where the slow/uncomfortable comment comes from. I'm not trying to go fast necessarily, but the inability get into a rhythm makes the process much more time consuming than flipping it on the other side.

Fortunately, I've not messed up an edge doing this, but I know it's probably just a matter of time... Good thing is, I can bring it back. Honing is almost as fun as shaving, you know...