I Rock! Wait, no, I was wrong...
I’ve been sharpening knives since I received my first one from my grandfather when I was 6. (3 bladed Old Timer) So when I started using a str8 last Christmas, I was looking forward to sharpening and honing as well. How hard could it be? :D
After lapping my brand new Norton 4k/8k f.o.r.e.v.e.r., I was ready to go! I chose my first razor, the newbie special – Dovo Best Quality (I really love that thing) and off I went. Bevels and angles should be easy… Stroke? Shouldn’t be a problem. Pressure? Just enough… After 12 passes on the 4K, 18 on the 8K, 5 on the .5 CO and 50 passes on the strop, this thing should be ready to go! I rock! Wait, nope – I have no idea what I’m doing. What was once a razor that was dragging and leaving a slight rash was now a razor that wouldn’t cut arm hair as I sawed it back and forth down my arm. There was one hair that I found but I think it fell out due to embarrassment. Back to the drawing board, videos, and tutorials.
What was it Lynn said about the pyramid? Hmmm. Round 2.
I tried the pyramid method as best I could and much like my issues with the strop, I realized the pressure was uneven on the strokes and the “feeling” wasn’t there; meaning, when I’m sharpening a knife and I’m getting to the final stages before overdoing it, the bevel is so aligned with the stone that I can almost feel the blade creating a suction to the stone. At that point, you can either have a thing of beauty or you can ruin a lot of work. So I backed off and let the metal and the stones do the work. End result was a nicely honed razor that is working beautifully. Can I repeat this with my Boker? I doubt it, but I’m going to enjoy trying!
Haakon
