Thread: Am I over honing

I have a question about my honing. I enjoy the honing and love the idea of doing it all from getting ride of the rust to getting it ready to shave. Im a new guy but have worked on alot of tools and have watched all the videos on honing a sr so I think i can get it done. Im taking a break from working on a razor now. On previous trys I think I rushed to get to the next stone never getting the bevel set to start with. This time i was not going to do that and im makeing good progress. Im on the 1k stone still and hone and check hone and check and could feel the edge getting sharper in diferent areas. First on heel then toe and the middle is getting there a bit at a time. My stones are lapped flat and i can shave arm hair on the toe and heel and its slowly moving toward the middle. Am I on the right track and just keep working it evenly on the 1k untill it all shaves hair. I guess im worried that im over honing or is this normal.
Thanks for any help
Glenn Collins

It sounds as if all is well, but the idea that it gets sharp on the ends leads me to believe that you may be dealing with a warp or a frown. Check your blade for either one and then continue, hopefully you just need to go a little further to get the complete bevel. Have Fun!

Depending on the shape of the razor it could be classed as "normal" if theres a frown to it. Try using a sharpie or marker along the edge to see if your strokes are getting the whole edge. Hope this helps

[QUOTE=rgc58;728886]I have a question about my honing. I enjoy the honing and love the idea of doing it all from getting ride of the rust to getting it ready to shave. Im a new guy but have worked on alot of tools and have watched all the videos on honing a sr so I think i can get it done. Im taking a break from working on a razor now. On previous trys I think I rushed to get to the next stone never getting the bevel set to start with. This time i was not going to do that and im makeing good progress. Im on the 1k stone still and hone and check hone and check and could feel the edge getting sharper in diferent areas. First on heel then toe and the middle is getting there a bit at a time. My stones are lapped flat and i can shave arm hair on the toe and heel and its slowly moving toward the middle. Am I on the right track and just keep working it evenly on the 1k untill it all shaves hair. I guess im worried that im over honing or is this normal.
Thanks for any help

Don't worry about over honing too much when setting the bevel. Normally at 1K you can do 30 to 40 circles on each side of the blade than maybe 30 X stroke laps and you should be close.
You have to keep the correct amount of pressure on the entire blade length during bevel set. Many guys will do back and forth or staright up and down strokes to help keep pressure even across blade and edge. The thing at 1K is you don't want to chew up the spine and create to much hone wear. This could change the edge geometry. Gotta go supper time. Hope this helps.

Mike

Thanks for the help. I went back to work and the edge did finally get sharp over the entire edge. I guess i was panicking a little. I didnt think about a frowning blade and now that i have it sharp im not sure how to check for it but i did get it shave ready i think. On previous atempts at honing when I thought i was there i tried the HHT with a little of my wifes hair and could get it to cut with a kind of sawing motion sometimes, so on this attempt and getting to use my new norton 4k 8k stone today after I got the bevel set and could shave hair along the length I grabed some more hair and nervously tried it again and wow it cut it like i have seen in the videos. It took me a loing time to hone it but I really learned alot this time. I havent tried circular strokes yet but will try next time. My whole problem has been getting in to big a rush to move to the next stone and not getting a good bevel set first. Thanks to all for the help and the posts on this site. Cant wait to try it out in the morning
Glenn

You will like doing circular strokes, it gets a lot of work done fast. Dont obsess with the HHT, it doesnt mean a thing until the steel contacts the face and then the truth is told.

Any "overhoning" you do at the 1k level will be corrected as you go up in grits. The only risk is removing more metal than you need to.
As a newbie, you should be more worried about underhoning than overhoning, IMHO.

Ok I wont worry about the HHT and im trying to get a feel for the TPT. Should I try and do the pasted strop things or just keep on with what im doing for now. Like most new guys mabey im a little to fired up and want to try all the stuff before Ive even learned to shave right Im really hoping to have a nice shave with it since i know for sure that i have been shaving with one that was not really shave ready.

There are a few hard and fast rules to this but not many, most of what you see and hear is a matter of preference. Once I am satisfied with a honed razor I will use a home made paddle with some Chromium Oxide embedded in it. I will give the razor about 5 laps on that little paddle and then go to the strop using a minimum of 100 laps on linen and then the same on leather, more if it seems necessary.

Originally Posted by Catrentshaving

Depending on the shape of the razor it could be classed as "normal" if theres a frown to it.

A frown is not normal on any razor , and is the result of poor honing technique . I think you mean to say "smile" . Ideally the edge of a razor should parallel the profile of the spine .