Thread: Finishing techniques

even among razors one might use different techniques- amount of pressure and stroke type. or is even different methods on the same razor for that matter

It does not especially matter if you are sharpening high end tools-(a razor is a tool too) what matters is whether you are making high end edges.

So if one is accustomed to producing high quality precise edges on one tool and cannot transfer all of the subtle information gleaned from sitting in front of the stones to another tool.......?

Ha ha ha i didn't mean to start a war. I have watched some of Lynn's videos and noticed right away that honing razors is far different from knives. I just threw in that I know how to hone so you guys wouldn't have to change your vernacular for me. I guess what I was asking was what do you guys do to finish. What are some of your techniques. Thanks for the super quick responses though.

Don't mention the war !

You asked about hones. Finishing for me is usually 20 -30 LIGHT strokes on a Nakayama Asagi, just water or imperceptible slurry.

Finishing is really in stropping, tho yes, you can shave off a fine hone.

Originally Posted by Stubear

Sorry, how do you mean? You should never hone a razor with the spine raised, as you would a knife, if thats what you mean.

In fact, you should not hone a razor the same way you sharpen a knife full stop, the two methods are totally different.

I'm not a knife guy, but DwarvenChef makes good points about the transferability and differences of the skills in his post. The understanding of how an edge progresses is transferable, but thats about it.

Who are these people who sharpen razors the same way as knives?

That's not what I meant. Of course you don't raise the spine when honing a razor, I think that is obvious to all. What I'm saying is that just like sharpening a knife, you put the blade to the stone, and sharpen until you raise a burr, then proceed onto the next stone. To me sharpening a knife and a razor is more similar than different.

In knife sharpening, it's also best to use light pressure once you get to the finer stones. It's also best to keep the stone flattened before sharpening. I think good knife sharpening, if you want it to be very sharp, is very much like razor sharpening. I can shave with my knives too if I give it a thin edge (8-9 degrees per side).

The usual sharpening motions are kind of different, but I can get the same results using different kinds of motions, whether edge leading, edge trailing, back-and-forth, or side-to-side diagonally.

But you don't want to raise a burr on a razor, at least I don't know anyone that does. Yes I look rediculous when I hone as I have headset magnifiers on when I do it

Originally Posted by DwarvenChef

But you don't want to raise a burr on a razor, at least I don't know anyone that does. Yes I look rediculous when I hone as I have headset magnifiers on when I do it

True, for regular honing you don't want the burr (though you get it anyway, it's just too small to see from a superfine stone). For new razors that you're bevel setting, and you're using a coarser stone you do want to see burr, so that you know the planes meet. You can apply the same idea for knives though.

Most people don't go to their 16k grit stone for their knives but some do, and for those people the same principles apply. When I finish sharpening my yanagiba I shave my face with it so that I know I did my job in the sharpening. It shaves surprisingly well. For people that do this, the distinction between razor and knife sharpening is blurred.

I haven't tried that with my yanagi, my Nakiri... Ya had to try it, afterwards it stuck in my board on every slice so I microbeveled it

I see what your talking about, I guess we all do things differently. I'm pretty close to self taught as I didn't watch videos before I jumped in and did it So what I got used to doing is slightly different from what is seen here regularly. I keep telling myself to video myself and watch it to see what I'm doing, cause I don't see it.