Thread: Horrible Honing!!! AAAAAHHHH!

yes 4k needs lapping quite a bit then the surface will be much smoother. i have a dovo astral that i honed last week and they are nice smooth shavers so is my dovo best the astral took me 2/3 atempts to reach smoothness.

After my first lapping, the 4k still felt like I was hitting a couple of rocks... Honed the Astral again and that shave was still crappy after lapping and honing. Slightly better than the unlapped, but its just not there yet. This razor never felt smooth, I think it was just from the factory and never had a good bevel set.

I'm going to hold off on any more messing with the Astral until my 220/1K arrives and I can do a bevel set. Also I have one of the cheap chinese Gold Dollar razors on the way that will be good for practicing honing on.

My Best Quality is shaving pretty well after a stropping so I'm still shaving with the straight.

Once my microscope arrives I'll also have a better idea of what I'm doing. I'd really like to "see" what is going on here!!


You guys are a great help! Thanks for everything!!!

the 4k needs a serious lapping as in you need to realy lap some hone of to get smooth surface you need to use dmt c or some 600 wet and dry. you are soaking the hone in water first , i'm sure you have. i find my dovo best a better shaver than astral . you realy can set bevel with your 4k.

Originally Posted by Bill S

Be sure and put a small radius on the long edges of the stone. If you don't the sharp edge will chip the edge if you aren't keeping the razor perfectly flat while honing.

I had to hone off at least an eighth of an inch of the 4K side of my Norton to get past the granular surface and get down to a smooth surface..

I never owned a Norton and I don't think I ever will after reading this. What I don't understand is: Why do you guys put up with a hone that needs removing 1/8" before it can be used? A messy hone that needs soaking before it can be used! I am very happy with my Shaptons (the only synthetic hones I own). I never read any similar problems with those.

Originally Posted by Kees

I never owned a Norton and I don't think I ever will after reading this. What I don't understand is: Why do you guys put up with a hone that needs removing 1/8" before it can be used? A messy hone that needs soaking before it can be used! I am very happy with my Shaptons (the only synthetic hones I own). I never read any similar problems with those.

Well, even after lapping 1/8th off my norton and 3/32nds off my Naniwa, they're still thicker and easier to use than Shaptons, IME.

The Nortons taste better than Shaptons by a long shot.

Shaptons come in various shapes and guises. I have the 1.5K and 5K sold in Japan exclusively. They are very easy to use, they are very hard and need no lapping as long as you use them for razors only.

Yes, but the Nortons come in that kewl box!!!

Received my pocket microscope today. At 60x, compared the Best and Astrale. The Astrale seems to have gotten a good bevel, no chips and nice and even. It does have heavy scratches though when compared to my best. Perhaps a few more on the 8k, or even wait for my chinese 12k to arrive?

I have been stropping with my new filly. It has .5 green paste on the rough side of the leather, not linen. I have been stropping my Best mostly on the leather side and occasional on the paste. I have not treated the filly.

Did 50 laps on the 8K today, and adjusted my stropping technique. I don't think I was aggressive enough! About 90 nice strops without the CrOx and the shave was great!!