Thread: Honing speed

Do you get better edge results when honing slowly or fast? Or does it not matter?

bill

You need to hone at a speed that allows correct contact between blade & hone whilst keeping pressure light.
The speed is limited by your skill. You may do a hundred good laps, then one careless one will undo all the previous ones.
My advice is to go at a speed that suits you to a certain extent, but bear in mind a razor is delicate & will require light, precise strokes to achieve the ultimate edge.
Watch a few of the honemiesters videos, but don't try to keep up with them!

When you first start don't worry about speed, it can only lead to misguided strokes that can mess up an edge fast.

The most important thing is to make sure you keep your strokes steady and flat on the hone while watching the water in front of the razor. This will show you where the razor is being treated by the hone or not.

Speed....I never think about that.

I can't imagine any advantage to honing quickly. When I hone the motivation to create each stroke perfectly slows me down quite a bit.

If your considering that the motion of the blade creates stability, I wouldn't try going down that path. I think it's better to go slowly, very slowly.

I think you have to really focus of the elbow swing and a careful turn.

I'm a "fast" honer, for the most part, but not because there's an inherent advantage to it. It's just that I've been honing for so many decades that it's as natural as breathing to me. The advice you've been given already is as good as gold. Worry about honing RIGHT and you'll naturally get faster as your muscle memory develops. When I'm down to the final strokes I end up going relatively slow and with a very feathery touch so I leave that grit with minimal impact for the next higher grit to deal with.

My speed is about 1 second per stroke, not lap.