Thread: Honing Experiment/Those Before Us

Hi All!

Since I'm very new to honing I thought that I would try to experiment a bit. My friend has asked me to clean up his Dad's razor and try to hone it back to "Shave Ready'.

I thought about how those who came before us many many years ago honed and what the feel was. I decided to check how the razor would 'shave' after each grit of stone. While I can't replicate what stones my Grandfather and Great Grandfather used I'll try to give an accurate report on how his razor 'shaves' after each step.

This is going to be a work in progress, please bear with me!

Yesterday I started to set a bevel with a DMT 1k. After awhile, I switched to a King 1200. At that point the arm hairs would pop. Today was when I decided to try the experiment. I stropped 50 laps on the linen, and 50 laps on the leather. I then lathered up and tried my sideburns area. Not too bad, but a little rough. I then tried my chin, hmm, while I could cut the hairs, it wasn't smooth at all. I tried stropping on a CO pasted strop and checked the shave. No noticeable difference!

I will post as I progress through the Norton 4/8 and the Naniwa 1200 Super Stone.

cool experiment , but gotta say thank you for doing this so that i will never have the urge to.

try to keep the blood loss at a min.

Thanks for the effort.

Keep in mind, back in the day many many folks had their razors sharpened by professional sharpeners. Back then there were many people who provided this service and it was quick, cheap and there were plenty of "honemeisters" out there. Many traveled and even hit the rural areas.

Well today I lapped the 4k as per Glens recommendation. After the final lapping I rinsed the stone and re-lapped using a DMT 325 and left a slurry. I did 20 circles with slight pressure, reversed the stone and did another 20 circles on the opposite side of the blade. I flipped the stone, rinsed the razor and allowed some water to drip on the stone to slightly dilute the slurry. I then did 20 x-strokes with slight pressure, flipped and did another 20 on the opposite side. I then repeated the above steps but with only enough pressure to keep the blade in constant and even contact with the stone.

I stropped 50 on linen and 50 on leather, lathered a side-burn area and a chin area.

Big difference! The sound of the hairs being cut was more intense (Really Popping!) and the blade moved a lot smoother. The chin didn't have anywhere near as much drag and again the blade moved much smoother. I also tried the Hanging Hair Test and the blade easily cut the hair!

Well that's enough honing for today! It's my day off and I just checked and it is now officially Beer O'clock!

OH! Sorry if I disappoint anyone, but so far no blood!

Originally Posted by shayne

cool experiment , but gotta say thank you for doing this so that i will never have the urge to.

try to keep the blood loss at a min.

No Guts/No Glory!

You are going about this the best possible way. Learning what is happening off of every stone will give you a feel for when it's time to move to the next. I have done this a few times with different stones just to see. The only step I skipped was stropping the razor. I would shave right off of the stone to know what the edge was doing and where it was at with no other prep.
This gave me a real feel and understanding of what the hone was doing to the edge. I was told once, and have read a few time that a well honed razor will shave good right off of a Norton 8k. I have done this several times and after my skills became better I found this to be true.

Keep up the good work and

Thanks!

Since I've already included the stropping I'll leave it in and then on the next razor, I'll give it a try just off the hone and no stropping. Thanks for the advice! Now that I think of it, I remember seeing a video of Lynn having a razor tried right off of a stone, I'll try to find it and watch it again!

I had to work today and the beard growth was about a full two days. I decided to give the 4k step a try for a full shave! I re-stropped 30 linen/50 leather, did my regular pre-shave prep, lathered and off we went. Now, while it wasn't the smoothest shave I've ever had, it wasn't too bad! I only did one pass and it cleaned up all but the most stubborn area quite well. I didn't have to use hardly any pressure,I didn't have any razor burn, no cuts, nicks or weepers. I did take the scab off of a very small nick from my previous shave. All in all, I was pleasantly surprised and pleased. I believe that I could actually use it on a daily basis, however, the edge would probably go to hell quicker at the 4k level than if it were more 'polished'.

I'm off early on Sunday, then off on Monday and Tuesday, so I'll probably get some honing on the 8k in on Sunday, then test it on one of the days off. I'm in no hurry and I want to make sure that I do this the very best that I can!

Today I lapped the Norton 8k and left a slurry. I then did the 20 circles with only enough pressure to keep the razor flat on the stone and that didn't take hardly any, flipped the stone and repeated the 1st step. I then flipped the stone and did 20 X strokes with the same pressure, flipped the stone and did another 20 X strokes.

I then rinsed the 8k and repeated the above procedure with water only. I then stropped 50 laps on the linen and 50 laps on the leather.

I then made a lather and applied to my sideburns areas and my chin. It was a much improved shave! The hairs cut much easier and the razor moved much smoother.

The difference wasn't a much as the move from the 1k to the 4k but it was a much better feel!

Since the 4k shave was with a two day growth and to keep as many of the variables intact, I'll give the 8k hone a full shave in two days.

With a full two days growth of beard I re-stropped the razor 30 linen/50 leather, did my usual shave prep and gave 8k a try!

Very nice shave! Definitely smoother than the 4k! I found that I didn't have to 're-shave' an area to clean up missed whiskers. Still no nicks, cuts or razor burn!

With my work schedule never the same, I'll need to shave for work tomorrow but it's later in the day so the beard growth will be similar. I'll finish up the honing by stropping on the linen, then lapping it on a Co pasted strop, then on the leather to see if I can feel the difference.

Then it gets sanitized, stropped, oiled and returned to my friend for use. I'll post the final shave and my conclusions!

Congrats on your success. An 8k shave is plenty nice. Go easy on the chrom ox pasted strop. It doesn't take much to improve the edge but can be too much of a good thing if you go past it.