First post here. Great site and resource. Been resarching for a while and have found a wealth of info.
Just did my first honing this afternoon. Got the Naniwa SS 1k, 3k/8k combo stone, DMT8C, and a cro ox balsa wood strop.
Laped the SS's with the dmt using grid (which I got instructions for on this site). That took about 30 minutes total, 10 or so minutes per stone, using super light pressure and figure 8's/circles.
I sharpened a new Gold Dollar I got for cheap. It's the 8 dollor or so one you can get on e-bay. I checked the blade (which was straight) and shoulder (which was ugly but ok), and determined it was not very sharp with the TPT.
I started with the 1k ss and did about 40 total circles (20 each way) with a slury from the the dmt. Thanks to gssixgun for the videos, very helpful. I did the TPT, and the edge felt dull. I then did about 10 straight laps and 10 X laps. The edge still did not feel sharp nor would it even cut hairs at skin level. I looked at the edge under bright light and the bevel looked even. I went to the sharpie and marked the edge. I did about 10 more straight and X laps each. I looked at the edge again and saw that I was getting scratches all the way to the edge.
I did about 10 more circles each way and then more straight and X strokes. Then the edge started feeling a little sharper per the TPT. It cut a few forearm hairs at skin level, but not popping them. I continued with 3 or 4 more straight and X strokes sets until the edge felt even sharper. I got it to cut more hairs per pass at skin level, but not popping. The whole edge felt of equal sharpness.
I then moved to the 3k/8k and did basically the norton 4k/8k pyramid.
On the 3k/8k, It was approximately:
20/20, 15/15, 15/15, 10/10, 5/5, 3/3, 1/3, 1/5, 1/5
After the pyramid I definitely saw a much shinier polished look on the edge. The edge definitely shaved forearm hair well, but was not popping hair.
I figured I'd go ahead and give it a shave. I did 10 very light X stroke laps on the cro ox balsa and then 30 laps on web material and 75 laps on latigo.
Lathered up and gave it a go. It was not a bad shave at all. My comparison is a Dovo Best Quality from SRD that has about 10 shaves on it. The gold dollar was NOT as sharp, nor as smooth, nor did it give me as close a shave as the Dovo, but it was a decent shave without major pulling.
I have a chinese 12k coming and will hopefully further refine the edge.
Anyway, I enjoyed the experience and am debating just dulling the gold dollar and doing it all over again for practice and to see if I can get it sharper. Maybe tomorrow :beer2:.