Thread: First Time Hone By Myself...wow!!!

As you can see...yes i am a noob. I don't pretend to have the knowledge base that many of you guys have learned over the years. I did want to share my story on the first attempt to hone a razor.

To date i have been pawning off my razors to a local knife guy that unfortunately is well versed on knives but overhoned two of my razors to where he took off a bit on the spine. Wasn't a happy camper but decided that i wasn't going to let that happen again so i took the plunge and invested in the following setup:

Norton Lapping Stone
Norton 4000/8000 Combo
Yellow Belgian Coticule w/small piece for slurry
Lynn's DVD

Spent some time watching and absorbing Lynn's video. Spent some time researching here on the forums and the more i read the more nervous i got. Decided to try my luck on my stainless Dovo. Watched the DVD one more time to regain some confidence.

Followed Lynn's guidelines he gave in the Dvd and did a 5/5 pyramid as the razor in question was getting pretty rough to shave with. All in all i had less than 30 minutes invested in the process. (including a 10 minute stone soak on the nortons, first time lap, etc.)

Tried the thumbnail test and thumb edge test and felt that it felt decent enough, no snags or obvious imperfections that needed retouched with a few more passes. Stropped it up about 30 times on Dovo Russian Leather and got lathered up to give it a test.

Let me just say...Hot Knife Through Butter! Wow!!! Had one of the best BBS shaves thus far and all i can say is thanks to Lynn for the great video!!!

I will have to see with the next razor if i am capable of duplicating the results and wasn't just lucky my first try.

I am confident now through it all that i'm never going to have to rely on someone else to do my razors for me any more!

Lynn is the man!

Congrats!

Its very satisfying when you successfully hone a razor! Well done!

Lynns DVD is very useful, I still watch mine all the time just to see if I can glean a little more from it..!

Congrats! I love how Lynn is so willing to share his tried and true methods even after all the time he put into the experimentation and development of those methods, and I'm continually amazed at how easy it is to apply them to honing razors.

Welcome to the community of self-honers, I hope you enjoy your stay.

Welcome to SRP and congrats on honing your own.

Congrats on a first success. The journey has just begun! We are looking forward to you future stories and bouts of RAD.

Nice job -- you're very lucky to have achieved honing
success on the first try

- Scott

Congrats on your sucess! It looks like you were smart in your choices of hones and instructions...as well as, you may just have some innate honing talent of your own.
Lynn's video was my first introduction to the shaving world, even before i became a member here and i still go back and review from time to time...tons of information there to be had.

Many thanks,

Mac

Round 2

After a successful hone of my Dovo Stainless felt it was time to man-up and see if i could fix my grossly overhoned Dovo MOP. (was skimming over hairs big time) Tried the same 5/5 pyramid and was met with like results. The MOP holds a special place for me and so was pretty ticked with how bad the knife shop screwed it up. Passed the thumbnail and thumb edge test. Stropped it up and tested it on a shadowy spot on my face and did a fine job. Will give it the full test tomorrow for my daily.

Thanks guys for your support and comments. I gotta give a huge thank you to Lynn too. Great feeling to be able to be self-sufficient!

Originally Posted by Joed

Congrats on a first success. The journey has just begun! We are looking forward to you future stories and bouts of RAD.

Not sure how RAD can afflict so swiftly but it is a dreaded curse indeed.

Got a few locks on a few Wade & Butcher blades that look like nice pet projects to try my luck on some restoration work. I've seen a few pieces here that were freaking breathtaking seeing the final results.

Will post results.

Congrats on the success!! I just got there myself a few weeks ago and now I can't find enough razors to sharpen. LOL.

Enjoy!