Thread: question or 2

I have a question or two in regards to honing. I have a Norton 4/8 and a DMT C. Have lapped the norton and am now wanting to begin learning to hone my razors. I have a coticule on order that must be coming from the Belgian mines of Neptune, so no finishing stone as of yet. I have recently purchased several razors off ebay (a boker, wade and Butcher, George Wostenholm, etc.; all good razors) and have a couple Dovos That were purchased new from SRD about a year ago. I have read that bevels can be set on the 4k; any ballpark numbers on strokes? And several members have stated that they once shaved off the 8k; not ideal, but best I can do at the time. Lastly, how many strokes can I do on the 8k to get comfortable with the stroke without doing too much? I am sure that is a relative question, just trying to get some ideas. I plan on getting a lower grit stone for bevel setting in the near future, just to clarify.

Thanks in advance guys,

Jeremy

Difficult question. Generally, if could tell me how sharp the razor is to begin with, say on a scale of 1-10 I could take a guess as to the number of strokes.

I would suggest that, depending on the hone, it takes so many strokes that I would need two abacuses, toes from three feet, and an accounting ledger to keep track of the number of strokes.

Ball park figure would be: a lot.

So....I can "play" around on the 4/8 without worrying? And setting a bevel will take forever? I'm guessing my questions weren't clear. I attempted to hone a Dovo earlier that is just a little short of shaving sharp. I started with a conservative pyramid (as outlined in a post by JoshEarl; 1-5, 3-5, 5-5, 3-5, 5-5) which may have actually been more than was necessary. It felt good on the TPT, in comparison to the one shave-ready blade I have. Will shave test tomorrow. But I am not keeping the blade flat through the entire stroke, so I am sure it will not quite be there. That is why I was wanting to know about how much I can do on the 8k side without going overboard, which I have the ebay blades to work on, but want to work on getting the stroke comitted to muscle-memory.

I would say learn how to hone on bad blades not your original good razors. buy from ebay cheap old ones and learn it.
about your dovo
it should be in pretty good condition.(what i read from your post)
just try 8k ,number of strokes is vary .
just try to make very light strokes and check the edge. strop see how it will cut your arm hair.
i will tell you a good edge of 8k will cut hair and hair will fall off on to your blade or next to it.
if hair jumps then blade is not sharp enough.
4/8 k should be ok razors you have.
for ebay razors you will need to add 1k.
if you can afford 12.00 buy radio-shack loop which has 60-100x mag. will help you in long run. gl.

Originally Posted by hi_bud_gl

I would say learn how to hone on bad blades not your original good razors.

REALLY good advice. You're going to make mistakes. It's just bound to happen. You make a mistake on a beautiful old Wade & Butcher, and you've just destroyed something that can't readily be replaced.

Start with a razor that is in such bad shape that it's probably not worth saving, and see how close you can get to saving it. You might get a pleasant surprise.

Originally Posted by JeremyLee

I have a question or two in regards to honing. I have a Norton 4/8 and a DMT C. Have lapped the norton and am now wanting to begin learning to hone my razors.

Jeremy

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Jeremy
You say you have a DMT C which is a coarse diamond plate . This plate would be just about the fastest bevel setter you could buy. Use it to set your bevel and then go to the Norton 1k. Then follow hi_bud_gl's instructions. 4k should pop hairs (make armhairs fly sideways) and 8k should make hairs fall straight down from your arm. Then 10 to twenty strokes on Escher or Naniwa 12k. Strop 100 times and shave.

Also, you might try to master the "thumb pad test". This test is a good indicator or blade sharpness.

OR: since you are getting a Coticule soon, go to www.coticule.be and try Bart's method with the Belgian stones. This works well if you follow the instructions carefully. You will need a slurry stone for this method.

OR: send 'em out and get 'em done right.

We report, you decide............

The only time to use that 325 plate on a bevel would be if it had a serious chip to remove. Using it on a normal bevel would be serious overkill IME. The TNT, TPT and the arm and leg hair shaving, hair popping and HHT are all ways to determine where the edge is in terms of 'enough' strokes.

Even experienced honers use these tests as a barometer for accessing the progress of the edge. IME the TPT becomes a valuable test if you hone a lot of razors. You'll grow tired of walking around with a bald left arm ...... assuming you're right handed. If you practice the TPT with a new DE blade you'll get an idea of what a sharp edge feels like on the thumb pad.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

The only time to use that 325 plate on a bevel would be if it had a serious chip to remove. Using it on a normal bevel would be serious overkill IME. The TNT, TPT and the arm and leg hair shaving, hair popping and HHT are all ways to determine where the edge is in terms of 'enough' strokes.

Even experienced honers use these tests as a barometer for accessing the progress of the edge. IME the TPT becomes a valuable test if you hone a lot of razors. You'll grow tired of walking around with a bald left arm ...... assuming you're right handed. If you practice the TPT with a new DE blade you'll get an idea of what a sharp edge feels like on the thumb pad.

bald arms and legs in my case. I use tpt regular plus hht. The only thing i find with tpt is i walk round real ruff skin on my thumbs both of them.

Not gonna use the DMT for bevels; would be disastrous in my inexperienced hands. Looking at getting the DMT 1200 for that, as so many posts recommend it, and lapping has not been the most enjoyable part of this. I was trying to get an idea of how to approach honing with the 4k/8k alone as this is all I have at the time; how to best approach a blade of unknown condition such as the ebay razors I have. Just do the pyramids and repeat as necessary? I am getting the hang of the TPT I think, as I have some DE blades and a shave-ready straight. I realise setting a bevel with the 4k will take quite some time, but this is great since I need to get better at keeping the blade flat throughout the stroke. So far nothing cuts arm hair above the arm, not even the one razor I have that is shave-ready. Haven't tried leg hair yet; don't have much of either. Guess I will send out a razor or 2 and work on the junkers. Hopefully that coti will ship in the near future. Thanks again.

Originally Posted by JeremyLee

but want to work on getting the stroke comitted to muscle-memory.

The only memory is in your brain, muscles can't remember anything.