Thread: Bevel Help

Hello everybody! I have two questions. First, I have read a lot about ways of determning whether or not a razor is sharp enough to provide a comfortable shave, such as the hanghing hair test, and several others, but is there any test that will tell me whether I have a proper bevel on my razor? Can someone please tell me the proper way of creating a bevel? I just ordered a 1000 grit stone. Will this be sufficient?

Also, I have read about the pyramid method of sharpening on a 4000 and 8000 grit stone, and I was wondering how long will it take to get my razor shave ready once a proper bevel is set?

A properly set bevel will be able to pop hairs off your arm. Once you get a razor that can do that, very lightly touch the edge and remember what it feel like. Then you can use the thumb pad test (TPT) in the future. But the arm hair test is always a good backup.

And yes, you can set bevels on a 1k hone.

A 1000 grit stone is great to set a bevel , what you are looking for is consistency in sharpness and in width from heel to toe ,
make a a couple passes and check the bevel making sure its straight if not apply just a little pressure to the area that needs it .
the thumb pad test is the best but it does take time to get the "feel" of it
I'v found over the years that id depends on the razor as to what method and grit is required ( not to confuse you more) some razors feel better at a 8000 grit, some need a 16000 , so at this point just stick to the basics and what ever works for your razor , just remember X pattern thats it for now , hope this helps "razor"mike

+1 to what holli4pirating said. This was the hardest thing for me to accept with my honing. The bevel is NOT set until it can take arm hairs off. Once I decided to abide by that, I suddenly found that I could get razors to shave ready.

If you have an eye loupe or a microscope of at least 30x it is very helpful in seeing where you are starting out and along the way. This video here may also be helpful.