Thread: Pyramid?

Hi everyone. I'm somewhat new to this. I've seen the term "pyramid" used to describe a honing technique. Could someone please explain what this means? I have two old razors and a Norton 4000/8000 but haven't been succesful yet. Thanks

The pyramid method is a honing method where you switch back and forth from the 4x side to the 8k side of the norton.
on the 4000 followed by the 800o the number of laps back and forth on the hone goes like this;
1/5
3/5
3/5
5/5
10/5
15/5
10/5
5/5
3/5
3/5
1/5
1/5
1/5
You don't have to go as high as 15 on the 4k if it's almost ready to shave and ending with a few 1/3 swipes seems to work for most guys.
It's all in the Help Files and described well in other posts. Do a search for more info.

X

If you perform the above pyramid then be sure and perform the thumb test and/or the hanging hair test frequently to judge the rate of change. You can stop at any point and finish with a 1/3, 1/3, 1/5 and then do a test shave.

Let us know how it goes.

I found a pyramid scheme that is a bit different and seems to be working for me. It seems to concentrate on more strokes on the higher grit stone than the lower. I use it on the Norton 4X8K, a Sharpton 15K and a .05 micron Hand American.

Norton 4X8

4/16
3/12
2/8
1/4

Norton 8 and Sharpton 15K

4/16
3/12
2/8
1/4

Handamerican flatbed hone .05 Micron
50 strokes

50 strokes on linen strop
50 strokes on the leather strop

jmsbcknr

Originally Posted by jmsbcknr

Norton 8 and Sharpton 15K

4/16
3/12
2/8
1/4

WOW, that's a lot of smoothing te edge out. I'd be afraid of smoothing the fins away completely with a set like that.

X

Originally Posted by xman

WOW, that's a lot of smoothing te edge out. I'd be afraid of smoothing the fins away completely with a set like that.

X

It is certainly different than what I have used before. I actually got it from Dr. Moss and frankly tried it on a razor I had just gotten off of ebay. Did one round and it was shaving like a champ. I will continue to see if there is a difference between this and the pyramids that use more strokes on the 4K and less on the 8K.

jmsbcknr

Sorry if this seems a bit of a daft question - when honing using the Pyramid method do you keep the blade angled when drawing across the stone < / like / > ( arrows show honing direction ) or do you go straight across ? I'm guessing this will make a significance differnce to the overall results ?

Thanks Jim,

Its always good to see what works for someone.

Just one question. Is that a "Sharpton" or a "Shapton" hone. They are different.

?

Originally Posted by jmsbcknr

I found a pyramid scheme that is a bit different and seems to be working for me. It seems to concentrate on more strokes on the higher grit stone than the lower. I use it on the Norton 4X8K, a Sharpton 15K and a .05 micron Hand American.

Norton 4X8

4/16
3/12
2/8
1/4

Norton 8 and Sharpton 15K

4/16
3/12
2/8
1/4

Handamerican flatbed hone .05 Micron
50 strokes

50 strokes on linen strop
50 strokes on the leather strop

jmsbcknr

Originally Posted by randydance062449

Thanks Jim,

Its always good to see what works for someone.

Just one question. Is that a "Sharpton" or a "Shapton" hone. They are different.

?

Shapton. Must have been thinking of the reverend. jmsbcknr

Before you do any pyramid you need to evaluate the razor. The pyramid could be overkill if you happen to have a nearly shave ready razor. From the posts I've seen here, most guys seem to overkill with the pyramid. For example, to me, the pyramids described about involve too many laps to be used as a general procedure. It's great if you've picked up a fairly dull razor from Ebay and don't know what to do with it. But in my opinion, you're much better off learning how to evaluate a razor first and then adjust the pyramid or work some other way.

For example, if a razor plainly looks dull or the thumb test shows it doesn't grab, I'll do a thumbnail test to determine if the edge is straight and smooth. If not, I go to the 4K and work the edge until passes the thumbnail test. What would I want with a pyramid? the finer grit is just a waste of time. Once the edge passes the thumbnail test, I move off the 4K.

At that point a pyramid could make sense since you're trying to polish the edge, but I don't use it. I'll just work on the 8K until the edge looks smooth and even at 60-100x magnification. I might go back to the 4K for a few if I see some chips. Once the edge looks smooth and even at 100x I'll move on to a finer hone, like a 12K.

From then on I use the thumb test to monitor edge improvement. When improvement stops, I move on to the .5 micron strop and keep stropping until improvement stops. At that point the razor is usually keen, but I could go on to a .25 micron strop. If I'm short on time, I can stop after the 12K stone and I don't give up a lot.