Thread: Different technique for honing narrow blades?

Originally Posted by randydance062449

If this is an American made 4/8 then they are usually a bit softer steel.
When I am honing a narrow blade I find it necessary to focus more on keeping the edge in contact with the hone. My weight distribution is 40% spine/ 60% edge.

Hope this helps,

Not sure where this one was made, but I'll keep this in mind next time it needs honing. It has kept a mean edge for a couple of weeks now (thankfully I didn't need to send it to a pro as Shooter wisely suggested).

There is so much I don't know about traditional shaving, so when this razor didn't take/keep an edge as easily as the other, I wondered if I was missing something when it comes to honing a 4/8 razor.

Thanks to each of you for your help, and thanks also for not talking down to me (I get that at other shaving sites). I appreciate that most of all.

I think it would be odd if any two razors responded the same, regardless of size. This is often the crux of people's difficulty in learning to hone. There is never a recipe.

Thanks, AFDavis11. You may be right, but I wasn't following a recipe, and I had no pre-conceived expectations of the process. I read all the advice I could find on using a barber's hone, and watched several videos, then I honed each razor until I got the results I wanted. During that process, the 4/8 seemed to be problematic, which is why I asked the question in the first place.

I now know to place extra emphasis on keeping the razor flat on the hone.

Excellent, I place my pinky under the scale to hold them up. That way I don't have to think about the stroke as much. A scale that can't drop is ALS an edge that won't rise.

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

Excellent, I place my pinky under the scale to hold them up. That way I don't have to think about the stroke as much. A scale that can't drop is ALS an edge that won't rise.

That's what I do as well. It made a huge difference in my results when I started it, and I just stuck with it.