Thread: Horrible Honing!!! AAAAAHHHH!

Tried my Dovo Astrale after my hone and strop. Shaved terrible! So, I finished up with the DE (double edge).

Today got out the microscope, 40x I think, and checked out the edge. OMG! it looked like it had teeth! No wonder it shaved crappy!. I have never honed my Dovo "Best Quality", and it looked very straight in comparison.

I really need help with my honing! It looks like I honed it on the sidewalk!

Norton 4k/8k.

I have watched the videos, did the pyramid.

One think I did notice that it feels smooth on the hone on one side, but feels like it is scratching on the other. Also sometimes it feels like I'm passing over a grain? Have I not broken in my hone properly? Too heavy handed?

I will learn this!!!

did you lap the hones well before first use?
it looks like ~1/8" needs to be lapped away to reveal good grit.
the problem also can be in the honing pressure and stroke, those things can not be learned from videos, only practice.

Originally Posted by mainaman

did you lap the hones well before first use?
it looks like ~1/8" needs to be lapped away to reveal good grit.
the problem also can be in the honing pressure and stroke, those things can not be learned from videos, only practice.

Nope. did not lap. I have a Norton slurry stone enroute to me. Will that surfice?

Thanks!

Originally Posted by jeffegg2

Nope. did not lap. I have a Norton slurry stone enroute to me. Will that surfice?

Thanks!

No, you need to remove a bit of stone and the slurry stone is not meant for that. the slurry stone is meant to refresh the surface when it loads or to raise some of the grit in the water on the surface of the stone.
To lap the stone you need wet/dry sand paper and a flat surface such as granite counter top or something flat like that. Start with 220 for faster work, then go to 320 and if you want finish on 600 but it's not necessary.

Here: Hone Lapping 101 - Straight Razor Place Wiki
That will show you how to lapp your hone. Was this razor "Shave Ready" at one time, it's now dull, and you're trying to hone it for the first time? I feel like I'm missing something...
Honing does take a bit of practice. Much like straight shaving. You won't get it the first time out. I don't think I'd practice on my primary razors, rather, I'd buy a crappy razor to work on. I'd send out the one you have to one of our honemeisters. The stone you bought is a Norton Prep Stone, not a slurry. They don't work too well imho. I don't use mine. The Norton's are great hones. I use the 4k/8k but I don't shave off them. I'd go to a 12k at least, or a strop pasted with some crox or diamond paste.

I don't use a microscope myself, just a jewler's loupe to look for micro chips, stuff like that. I do know that edges look like saw blades at high levels of magnification. I don't know about 40x

Ahhh! Thanks! I read the lapping info it looks fairly simple! Looks like its off to Home Depot once again for some lapping paper! My shopping list is growing!

I have the filly from ruprazor with green crox paste on the back. I've been looking at those 12k chinese stones though.

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..

There is a difference between lapping paper and what you need... When you go to home-depot, look for 220-400 grit Wet-n-Dry sandpaper... That should do the trick.

Originally Posted by ShavedZombie

There is a difference between lapping paper and what you need... When you go to home-depot, look for 220-400 grit Wet-n-Dry sandpaper... That should do the trick.

Will do! Thanks everyone for all the help!

It's already been alluded to, but I'll elaborate. The Norton 4k, which is the white side of the 4k/8k hone, seems to have bits of grit embedded in the outer surface of the hone. This is why it is recommended to lap away about 1/8" of the surface. In reality, you just need to lap it until you no longer hit any grit when honing, so just go by trial and error. If you listen carefully in Lynn's video describing the honing pyramid, you will hear his blade regularly hit a piece of grit on the 4k. If you encounter such a piece of grit, just lap it some more.