Thread: Got my first hones today :)

my first hones arrived today. i got two Norton stones. the first one is a 220/1k combo and the second is a 4k/8k combo. i'm really excited lets hope i don't ruin my blades.

i tried a quick honing of a blade on the 8k stone, it took a couple of tries but i finally got a bit of a sharp edge. the blade wasn't too dull but it did wear down over the last couple of months.

does anyone have any go recommendations on reading or viewing material besides the wiki?

Have you read and watched the youtube mess? Allot of good (and bad) videos that show much sharpening styles...

In the general shaving forum down below there is a page all about videos that members have posted, give it a shot.

I am new to honing and have the same set-up. I am very happy with my Nortons, very easy to use. Don't expect miracles, it might take some time to get the technique meaning strokes down, not as easy as it looks. If you start getting frustrated take a break, that's what I do. I absolutely love honing now, unfortunetly I have nothing to hone at the moment. Anyway, enjoy.

G'day mate.

Apart from just jumping in and doing it with a slight hand I recommend you purchasing a small microscope to view the bevel/grit scratch pattern.

This was a massive step in my honing becoming shave acceptable.

It is akin to a blind man suddenly being able to see. Seriously.

This one does the trick for me.

60X-100X Pocket Microscope Illuminated Magnify LED Mini (eBay item 250709683548 end time 09-Jan-11 21:42:58 AEDST) : Industrial

Nortons are great. I still have and love mine.

I wish you great shaves.

After starting out last January learning to shave, I recently honed my first razor. I used the 220/1K and 4K/8K combo that you have. I worked off the instructions in the wiki and watched every video I could find. I don't have a microscope and as a result, I don't have any hair on my right arm from testing the razor as I honed.
Good luck learning to hone. It is very self satifiying to finally shave with a razor I honed myself so the journey is long, but very worth while.

My recommendation is that is you can find someone locally to watch hone and to watch you hone, it would be a great help.

Don't forget to lap your new stones before you start honing on them.
The 4k needs more lapping until you remove the crust to expose the usable 4k surface.

+1 on what Stefan said. You might see if you can find some old blades to "practice on" first. Just a thought.

Mike

Originally Posted by BuddyRockefella

does anyone have any go recommendations on reading or viewing material besides the wiki?

The tutorials on using the Norton pyramid method in the Wiki found here has worked very well for me. Same with the alternative pyramid method here. Also the 1961 barber manual excerpt on honing and stropping PDF found here has been very useful IME. +1 on Mike's suggestion to find some old blades and if you can find someone locally to show you that is even better.

thanks guys for the replies weekend now so i can take the time to hone some razors.

how long would honing a razor from start to finish take?
and how long would it take to hone a razor that all ready has a bevel?

do you guy recommend starting with a razor that just needs a touch up or something that needs a little more work?