Thread: Barber Hone Challenges

So I've been trying to get a good edge with my Kimberly, Little Devil and Honemaster and I can get them to shave, but not at all comfortably. I've been doing 3 or for 5/3 'pyramids' between the Kim and the Devil and then finishing with 3 or 4 passes on the Honemaster. I'm stumped. Can anybody suggest a method to help me improve this edge? Mostly I'm honing my Dubl Ducks this way right now. Any help would be appreciated.

X

Ofcourse, you picked all the hones I don't have. But I will add a suggestion. Try adding lather to each and using both a firm touch (you know what I mean, just a tad of pressure, then a very light touch). I think the barber hones do a little better with a long vertical stroke vs more of a side to side stroke, or a very vertical x pattern. Hopefully, that makes sense to you. Those aren't two differing strokes but just using a more "vertical" x pattern. I only use about 3 inches of the stone.

The Honemaster is a excellant finishing hone, but it needs to be used wet. I do several (10-20) passes with the stone wet then ten or so passes using lather. I lapped my hone with 1200 grit then 2000 to get it working the way it was designed for. Straight out of the box the hone is fairly coarse. A little bit of work and I think you will find this hone will work wonders.

Glen

Well I don't use lather, but I'll wet the stones. Is my 5/3 progression good?

The HoneMaster is an excellent finishing hone. I use only water and the weight of the razor - no more than that for the final half dozen or so finishing strokes. If the edge isn't already sufficiently fine, however, a few strokes with this hone won't accomplish much. If your goal is to achieve a fine shaving razor, try some experiments without pyramid progression, which in my opinion, only guarantees a coarser shaving edge than I want to put on my face.

I should also mention that I get very good results without counting passes. I hone on each stone until it's done what it's supposed to do the best it can do and then move up to a finer grit. Whether 10 passes or 50 passes, it matters not one bit to me. It's all about the right touch and right progression, in my opinion. I don't recall ever putting only five stokes on any hone and hoping for a good result.

Five laps on any finishing finishing stone has never been enough for me either.

Originally Posted by PapaBull

I should also mention that I get very good results without counting passes. I hone on each stone until it's done what it's supposed to do the best it can do and then move up to a finer grit. Whether 10 passes or 50 passes, it matters not one bit to me. It's all about the right touch and right progression, in my opinion. I don't recall ever putting only five stokes on any hone and hoping for a good result.

I like too use liquid hand soap for lather. It keeps the edge just floating over the top of the hone. Water does the same thing except for there is a bit more suction. I always use water then lather for the extra fine finish. I am not a big pryamid user when it comes to honing. Recently though I have came up with my own progression. Starting from a completely dull razor after restoration I use a coarse hone and do the circular pattern until I have a nice even bevel. Then I do 10 on the coarse 10 on the fine side of my double grit hone. Continue then 9 coarse 11 fine all the way to 20 only on the fine side. Then I finish with my Honemaster.

Glen

I agree the honemaster is a final finishing stone. The few times I've used mine I use it wet with water maybe 20 or so passes. I have the little devil but I was told its good to use to lap the other barber hones. I've never used it to hone a razor though.