Need honing advice

Hey all, I have a question. Is my razor supposed to pass the HHT off the hone before stropping or CRO? I have rarely been able to get to this point :(

EDIT: I can pass the HHT after CROXing and/or stropping. I want to know if there is an even greater level of sharpness to be had begore I hit this point.
My honing progression from the bottom up (not a touch up)

750 diamond plate
2-4k barber hones
Coti with slurry 20 chisel strokes each side and 20 X
BBW with progressivley watered down slurry (at max TPT keenness) X stroke
Coti with water for 50-75 laps X stroke (very lightly the last 10 laps with new water)
Chinese 12k for 100-150 laps X stroke

After Im done I crox and strop. I am able to get succesful shaves, but there is quite a bit of pull and nicking on a ATG pass. Is there anywy I can improve my honing ability? :borg:

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Originally Posted by mrmaroon

Hey all, I have a question. Is my razor supposed to pass the HHT off the hone before stropping or CRO? I have rarely been able to get to this point :(

750 diamond plate
2-4k barber hones
Coti with slurry 20 chisel strokes each side and 20 X
BBW with progressivley watered down slurry (at max TPT keenness) X stroke
Coti with water for 50-75 laps X stroke (very lightly the last 10 laps with new water)
Chinese 12k for 100-150 laps X stroke

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You can pass the HHT off of the hone for sure. Whether or not you will be able to everytime is not for sure. If you can successively pass HHT over and over again off of the hone, there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to 99.987654321% of the time. What grits do you think your coti's bbw are?

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Originally Posted by mrmaroon

Is there anywy I can improve my honing ability? :borg:

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Honing is like driving a car with a standard trans... you can always get better at it.

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Originally Posted by 2knives

What grits do you think your coti's bbw are?
7.

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I would say aroud 4-5kish

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Originally Posted by mrmaroon

I would say aroud 4-5kish

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you're right... it's rated around cami 4000-5000

You're going from 2-4k barber hones, then Coti which is ~ 6000-8000 with slurry<slurry aids in faster honing but not a lower grit number>, then to the bbw which is ~ 4000-5000, then back to the Coti without slurry ~6k-8k, then 12000.

so your progression is 2k>4k>6k-8k slurry>4k>6k-8k>12k

Try 2k>4k>4k-5k>6k-8k slurry>6k-8k>12k <-- since those are the stages that you like to use

I think you are back-stepping in your progression... as always though I could be wrong.

I go from the barber hones to the coti with slurry to remove the deep scratches and am left with a hazy finish. I hit the BBW because I thought it maxed at a higher keenness than the coti did. So I want to carry that keenness to the finishing coti stage with no water,

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Originally Posted by mrmaroon

I go from the barber hones to the coti with slurry to remove the deep scratches and am left with a hazy finish. I hit the BBW because I thought it maxed at a higher keenness than the coti did. So I want to carry that keenness to the finishing coti stage with no water,

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I see your angle, good theory too, I like that as is makes sense. I could see how that would help out with a more polished look on the bevel and spine; however, it is still going back to a lower grit which, in my opinion:matrix:, doesn't do a lot for the actual edge which is key. What I mean is that your edge is still going from a high grit to a low grit... maybe try to go with a few more stroke on the "no slurry coti" stage in your progression and see if you don't get better results.

Ive tried all that, I think it must be a problem in my technique. I just can't pick up what it is yet.

Well you're going the opposite route I went. I learned on old crappy stones (that had to be intensely lapped for days with tons of sand paper to flatten out) and once I got the technique of it I went and got a better stone or two... You have a nice set of stones and nice theory already so you have and awesome understanding and set up so far! Maybe someone else can chime in and give some better advice.

Good luck to you!

I have another question, after my usual X pattern, should I do any backhoning/stropping strokes on the stone?

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Originally Posted by mrmaroon

I have another question, after my usual X pattern, should I do any backhoning/stropping strokes on the stone?

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Many will preobably disagree, but I don't think it hurts anything as long as your movement is rigid enough to not let the razor roll onto the spine. You shouldn't need to though unless you have a problem with a wire-edge, which some claim is a solution to a wire edge. I've never had a problem with a wire edge myself nor have I had any negative effects from "stropping" on the hone.