Thread: Honing Training Aid

Thanks for posting your results, Glen. You all have made some excellent points.

But, you see, I have learned something. Actually three somethings:

1: Helped me normalize my strokes by showing variants in pressure from stroke to stroke, and through different parts of the stroke. I've corrected the pressure used on both my pull strokes and push strokes. I guess eventually uneven hone wear would have grassed me up but at least I'm a little more aware. (This point was the main intent of my original post.)

2: Randy pointed out my error in loading the spine and not the edge. This was something I hadn't even thought to ask about. I just made some assumptions. And, well... we all know what it is with assumptions.

3: Both Glen and Sham pointed out using pressure somewhere in the neighborhood of 1000g at bevel setting. Even considering all the variables inherent in different guys using different scales in different ways, that's more info than I had before. The next razor I do, I'm throwing it all out the window, and I'm gonna bear down! Kidding, but i do intend to play around a bit with that idea. I admit to having been a little timid about putting "lot's" of pressure to the blade, but I may have been erring on the side of caution.

I do stand by my belief that any data point that can be conveyed in concise terms is often more valuable to one's learning than adjectivial or anecdotal comparisons. Lacking the opportunity to experience a hands-on tutorial session, I have to make do with what I have available. Granted, the kitchen scale may not be the best means, but cheap, practical and "close enough" have often panned out for me in the past. I don't plan on using it much, any more than I still ride a bike with training wheels; it was an interesting, and informative, little experiment. Just one more step on my journey.

I do have to admit I'm curious to hear more about what others find doing this. Both as a means of somewhat quantifying a very evasive subject, and as a feed-back mechanism. So far we've only got a statistic of 2, from both extremes of the spectrum

You have made some good points. There are a number of ways to learn.

This thread has revived an old question...how much pressure and when?
We have never really developed an effective answer for that.

I will make a contribution now...

Q. How much pressure should I use on a German full hollow razor, vintage, with a mildly corroded edge, no visible rust or chips on the edge.

A. Using 1000 grit wet/dry sandpaper it normally takes between 50 - 100 laps to remove the old oxidized steel and develop a bevel. If your using far more laps than this try using a bit more pressure.
At one point I described the weight as being equal to having a can of vegetables on the blade. I think I use more pressure than that now when I am starting on the edge. Of course the last 25 laps are always done lightly.

Glen's post actually makes me wonder - we (at least I) do have a preconceived notion about pressure - I now know that using pressure at some stages and different amounts of pressure at other stages can actually be beneficial. What if varying pressure during the stroke is too? If varying pressure is a natural thing and is done subconsciously, we'd never know if we're doing it without using a scale and, like Glen said, if you are watching the scale you may chase the pressure instead of the edge.

Also, the pressure reading on the scale will only tell you the total pressure being used. It won't tell you if that pressure is evenly distributed across the razor. Furthermore, if you have less than the whole razor on the hone (i.e. a smiling razor or just the toe part during an X stroke) the pressure is actually greater (because you are actually measuring a force with the scale, not pressure (pressure is force / surface area)).

Which actually raises another point - if your bevel is twice as wide, and you assume the hone wear is twice as wide too, you'd have 4x the surface area, which means 1/4 the pressure, but the blade will still flex like any other blade of that grind. So there you'd be getting different localized pressure (which is the part that affects the cutting) with the same blade flex..... So that would mean you can actually get waaaaay less localized pressure on razors with wide bevels than you can with narrow bevels, just because of the surface area. Maybe flattened spines and wide bevels are good after all? Ok, I'd done rambling now.

Originally Posted by wdwrx

Thanks for posting your results, Glen. You all have made some excellent points.

But, you see, I have learned something. Actually three somethings:

1: Helped me normalize my strokes by showing variants in pressure from stroke to stroke, and through different parts of the stroke. I've corrected the pressure used on both my pull strokes and push strokes. I guess eventually uneven hone wear would have grassed me up but at least I'm a little more aware. (This point was the main intent of my original post.)

This is a very good point you bring up, and I actually do think that the scale or some type of system could be used here...
I did find out that my honing strokes are machine like, very, very, even from stroke to stroke, and lap to lap...
I think in the back of my mind I already knew that, I have a very good ability to repeat the same movement over and over...
My wife has said for a few years now, the only reason I am good at honing and razor stuff is because I have that capacity...She however, calls it part of my OCD