some success but more questions still

So i followed lyyn's advice. I did 10 strokes on the 4k in increments of 10 until i could shave hairs fairly easily. then 10 on the 8 k. after i did 10 on the 12 k it as not sharp again. I'm thinking that my 12k stone is a piece of crap. it doesnt make a smooth sound when i use it and i think it is not toatly flat. i've never attempted to lap this stone. I have a pasted strop with 1 micron and .5 diamond paste. would either of these pastes be equivalent to the 12 k stone and work as a good finisher?

Technically, any stone or paste after the 8k really comes down to comfort. After the 8k sharpening, yo should be able to strop on unpasted leather and shave comfortably.

okay. But in terms of grit is the 1 micron equivalent to a 12k more or less? im going to try shaving off the 8 k but i think i would like it sharper because I'm sick in the head

If I'm not mistaken(I may be wrong), but I think .5 micron is the rough equivelent of 8-10k. Not 100% sure though.

i find that hard to believe

Like I said, I'm not sure. I don't use pastes or sprays. I'm sure someone else will chime in with the specifics on the grit equivelants.

Here you go: http://straightrazorpalace.com/srpwi...ailability.pdf

0,5 micron is in the range of 30000 grit.
you can find a comparison, and a formula to calculate between grit and micron in the wiki.
Also you can read in the hones list that explains quite a bit on the various stones and their grits.

I figured I was way off. :gaah:

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Originally Posted by Mattyboy48

So i followed lyyn's advice. I did 10 strokes on the 4k in increments of 10 until i could shave hairs fairly easily. then 10 on the 8 k. after i did 10 on the 12 k it as not sharp again. I'm thinking that my 12k stone is a piece of crap. it doesnt make a smooth sound when i use it and i think it is not toatly flat. i've never attempted to lap this stone. I have a pasted strop with 1 micron and .5 diamond paste. would either of these pastes be equivalent to the 12 k stone and work as a good finisher?

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One thing you may want to try, and I'm not sure what the shaving condition of your razor is:

A conservative/aggressive pyramid, depending on how its shaving. Stop. Test shave and evaluate. Continue with another conservative or aggressive. When you get to the point where it's almost comfortable, use conservatives only. If you've tested, and it feels pretty good, use your 8K. Make sure its good and wet, and do feather light strokes very slowly. 10-15 x patterns. really slow and polishing that edge.

gssixgun suggests this, and truthfully, I have a couple razors where this technique works very well. On one, I just strop and shave, because its at a very comfortable point for my skin.

It's pretty common for beginners and even mid-level honers to lose sharpness as they move up in grit.

There is a huge mental shift that has to occur between 4K and 8K. Once you get to 8K you have to treat the blade edge like a butterfly, letting it touch down gently on the stone. You have to move the razor without pressure, so each stroke on both sides will be equal in pressure (using the weight of the blade as the equally factor). You have to hold your pinky under the scale so the edge remains consistently flat as you move the razor across the hone without lifting.

You need to replicate each stroke, in angle, and distance on the hone on each side. So, the razor, when it moves toward you should be a mirror reflection of what the razor looked like when going the other direction.

The key, though, is a light touch.

When you hone of 4K you can make all kinds of simple mistakes and poor strokes. Your really only aiming for a consistently sharp bevel. Like if you were honing a knife, childsplay really. Setting a bevel is a pretty simple act. It does require you pay attention to ensuring that you are getting a consistent honing across the entire bevel and shooting for sharpness, but, given the proper attention, isn't too hard, skill wise.

Pastes are good after finishing stone actions. I would work on perfecting your 8K strokes and them moving up from there.