Thread: Honemeister advice (Update from a newbie)

Thought I'd drop by and give everyone an update. This is actually an IM for randy but I figured it would be good to bounce off everyone as well. Im still working on the old razor that I took the nick's out of while lynn hones my dovo (I can't wait to get it back!). Anyways, I thought It might be overhoned (though the thumbnail test doesn't seem to indicate) so I did a little back honing (about 10 strokes on the 4k) and did kind of a modified pyramid. Now I'm back to being pretty sharp. Still about the same as before. Still won't pass the HHT. It'll cut hairs on my arm and I've noticed when its sharper it makes less of a sound. I never have enough stubble to shave test at night so I did so on my chest again. Once again, it shaves. Pretty much without iritaion too. On my face this morning, shaved, pulled and didn't cut the hair to the skin. Shaving the chin area wasn't going to happen. Here are my thoughts:

1. The shave went pretty well on my chest because the hair isn't as thick. My technique has also changed to incorporate more of a slicing (scything?) motion. This seems to help a sub par edge shave better.

2. When I lapped my stone, the 600 grit was not fine enough to leave a propper surface on the stone? Or is my stone not flat still? I would think if this is the case I could still get it to pass the HHT on some parts of the blade.

3. I'm pretty sure I'm doing most everything right proceduraly so now I need to stard the process of elimination. I'm going to go get a microscope today so I can see what the actual edge looks like. I think that should help quite a bit. Then I can experiment and see what changes take place on the edge. Excuse the grammar, this was kind of a thinking session for me as well....Thanks again for the advice

600 grit is fine for lapping the norton 8k side, it's what I used.

Getting that last bit of sharp that gets you to "shave ready" is tricky and can take awhile to master, so don't get discouraged.

I am trying to answer you within your quote.

Originally Posted by easyrider2382

Thought I'd drop by and give everyone an update. This is actually an IM for randy but I figured it would be good to bounce off everyone as well. Im still working on the old razor that I took the nick's out of while lynn hones my dovo (I can't wait to get it back!). Anyways, I thought It might be overhoned (though the thumbnail test doesn't seem to indicate) so I did a little back honing (about 10 strokes on the 4k) and did kind of a modified pyramid. Now I'm back to being pretty sharp. Still about the same as before. Still won't pass the HHT. It'll cut hairs on my arm and I've noticed when its sharper it makes less of a sound. I never have enough stubble to shave test at night so I did so on my chest again. Once again, it shaves. Pretty much without iritaion too. On my face this morning, shaved, pulled and didn't cut the hair to the skin. Shaving the chin area wasn't going to happen. Here are my thoughts:

1. The shave went pretty well on my chest because the hair isn't as thick. My technique has also changed to incorporate more of a slicing (scything?) motion. This seems to help a sub par edge shave better.

2. When I lapped my stone, the 600 grit was not fine enough to leave a propper surface on the stone? Or is my stone not flat still? I would think if this is the case I could still get it to pass the HHT on some parts of the blade.
The 600 grit should be just fine for lapping your hone. Just be sure to draw some pencil lines on the hone before using the 600 grit. lap that hone until the pencil lines are gone.
If your hone is not flat you will find it very difficult to pass the HHT.
3. I'm pretty sure I'm doing most everything right proceduraly so now I need to stard the process of elimination. I'm going to go get a microscope today so I can see what the actual edge looks like. What does the edge look like? I think that should help quite a bit. Then I can experiment and see what changes take place on the edge. Excuse the grammar, this was kind of a thinking session for me as well....Thanks again for the advice

You are the King Randy....

Well, got the 10 dollar pocket microscope (60to100k I think). The edge to me looks pretty good. I dont see any nicks. The bevel looks good on most of the razor. I say most because I think in the process of removing those big nicks on the sandpaper that the geometry of the razor might have become off a little. Mainly by the heel is where I see the nice bevel waiver a bit. It's just that "last bit" of sharpness that seems to be eluding me. When I lapped on the 600 I did make pencil marks and lapped till they were gone. I'm thinking of doing it again though just to satisfy myself that the hone is flat. I'm also really looking forward to getting my razor back from lynn so I can use it to calibrate a sharpness test that works for me. I kind of backed off the honing for now so I can have time to think about what I'm doing and seek all the advice I can get. Thanks again you guys!

When viewed under the microscope the bevel should be of a uniform color and texture along the full length and width .
If you see a darker silver/blue color along the very edge then you have two bevels. If there is a gold/brown/rust color along the very edge then that is a wire edge.

Hope this helps,

Well, here we go. I got my dovo back from Lynn last night (wow pretty fast considering I'm in Vegas and it went to OH!). First thing I did was to compare the edge to the ebay special I've been working on. Very close from what I can tell using the thumb test. I can feel the stickiness and think it's almost shave ready. I'm seriously considering geting a pasted paddle strop from tony miller to polish off my honing. Anyways, shaved first without stropping (figuring Lynn already did) and the shave was going well. Definetly need to work on my technique especially with my left hand. Now, it did pull around my chin area but I'm sure that's more technuiqe and angle. Overall, it took me about a half hour, no cuts and no irritation. That's unbelieveable considering how many passes I had to do. I did have to strop once about halfway through the shave and could tell that it made a difference. I'm sure the razor is about as sharp as it can get coming from Lynn so like I said my tech just needs some more work I think. Plus the pasted strop I'm thinking might help a bit. I've also been thinking about trying a larger blade size to see the difference. I've got a dubl duck satinedge on the way (30 bucks on Ebay) but I'm not sure the size. Anyways just wanted to say thanks for all the advice I've recieced and that I'm truly hooked on this stuff. I don't think the bank account is too happy though! I'll keep you guys posted....

Each razor must be stropped just before each shave. Not the night before or the day before etc. Perform 30-60 round trip laps pn the leather strop before shaving. The difference in the shaving edge will surprise you.

Will do randy. FYI, I broke out the old razor and microscope....believe I had a wire edge that kept breaking off so I back honed about 10 laps on the 4k and it seems to get rid of it. Then performed a simple pyramid starting a 55 then 35 15 15 15. When viewed under the scope it had a nice uniform bevel but I notice a bunch of dark spots in the freshly cut bevel. I think this is micro pitting. I noticed it before but didn't want to believe it I guess. I certainly don't see this on the dovo I just got back from lynn. Does it pretty much render that blade useless? No hope of a shave ready edge? I'm going start my shave tomorrow with it and see what happens. I think this might have been my main problem all along....

easyrider,

I highly recommend the pasted strop from Tony, it solved my honing woes, which were similar to yours. Using the pasted strop is quick and easy to learn, and will put that finishing touch on the edge effortlessly. You will wish you had bought it sooner. Not only will the extremely fine pastes (.5 & .25 micron) get it super sharp, but I also believe that the pastes will get rid of your edge imperfections, also (you might have to go with the slightly coarser pastes for that).

Philip