Thread: So I was Honing tonight !!!

Sooooo.... Many may know I got my Naniwa Hones from SRD a few weeks ago, thank you again Lynn.
1k, 3k, 8k & 12k Naniwas
With help from many and especially Glen, gssixgun, and a few weeks of fooling around with them as well as watching Glens videos over and over I finally went with a razor that was going to be usable. I was practicing just technique with some ebay garbage I got when I first started. Getting the feel of the x stroke, pressure feel, razor/hone feedback etc... But tonight I took one of my better ebay razors and went start to finish.
I waited till my better half fell asleep so she would not witness me in the kitchen with my "box of rocks" as she calls them & all the other crap I had in there as well as the iPad setup playing the youtube videos lol. Man I would never hear the end of that!
So I set the bevel, I think, on the 1k and then moved on to the 3, 8 then 12 re-taping inbetween. I actually felt pretty good about the process and tried to hold back the "I can't wait to shave with this when I am done" feeling. But when I was done it had a nice even bevel, though it looked a little narrow, more so then on my others. BUT I cleaned up and went to the Shave Den and got my strop out and gave it 20 on the linen, 30 on Latingo & 50 on the smooth horse.
Lathered up and to my surprise the first stroke removed the whiskers! Now it was not the greatest and there were some slight nicks that I really think may be from poor honning. Maybe leaving behind some imperfections. I never get razor burn and it is rare that I nick myself. In the end I had a really close shave... really close but I came to understand what so many speak of when they say "a comfortable shave". All but 1 razor out of the 8 in rotation have been honed by either Lynn or Glen, so to say I am spoiled with very well honed razors is an understatement!
I have lots to learn I know but I had to share my first full hone to shave experience with you all.
Thanks again to Glen and Lynn and the rest who have helped me in my quest !

PS. I posted the best pic I could get of the bevel.

PPS thats my girls laptop with the Snoopy sticker... no ... seriously its hers not mine !

Great way to start!
I think the happy dance is appropriate

Awesome! I too had great help from both Glen and his videos when I started, if you pay attention you can't go wrong

Don't be afraid of stropping more, after honing I do at least 50 linen and 100+ leather.

Conversely don't be afraid to go back to the finisher for 5-10 strokes. It may save you time on the strop

Well done!

It's something very satisfying to the first shave with a self honed razor.

What I have found on the Naniwas is that they tend to clog quite a bit and need to be cleaned quite often, specially the 1K. I use to give them 2-3 "8 figure" strokes on 340 wet sanding paper on glass. (I don't have a DMT yet, but that would probably be better)
By doing this I feel they work better and gives a better edge.

Nice job! Sounds like a successful first foray into honing.

Another thing to not be afraid of is spending time on your 1k to set the bevel. You should be able to shave arm hair off the 1k and if you can't don't move up the grits. Otherwise you'll end up with a shiny but dull edge!

All this talk about over honing can put people off spending time on the 1k, but it's actually very hard to make an edge fail like that. I've done it precisely once on a 325 DMT with an old microtome and that's literally it. Very hard to do!

Good luck and have fun!

Great Job Cary !!!! There is a major satisfaction the first time you shave a razor that you honed


Reading your post I only noticed one thing and PLEASE understand the worst thing in the world is to analyze by way of Pics on the computer but we do what we can do on here

You need to look close on the razor, and see if what we see on the pic, is actually on the steel first, before you do anything about what I say here...

In the pic down at the heel it looks like it has a lower grit scratch pattern which could account for giving you a nick or two, then again this could be just a reflection in the pic only you can tell...






It only gets better from here my friend

+1 ... & some form of magnification will help to see up close. A jewellers loupe is plenty for everyday honing

I saw that too. I have a jewelers loop here somewhere. I'll break it out and give a closer look to see what is going on there.
I appreciate the comments and support. Like I said it was the first full deal and in the end it very well could be the razor I was honing needed a little more help then just a straight forward honing. I have a few other razors to practice on that I don't have to worry much about screwing up.
Rocks, steel & my face will find a happy medium soon enough. Honing is a lot like shaving in that you need technique more then anything. Then know and recognize the feedback from the hone and the blade.

Originally Posted by Earthdawn

Sooooo.... Many may know I got my Naniwa Hones
....snip...
1k, 3k, 8k & 12k Naniwas
....snip...

Lathered up and to my surprise
...snip...

No surprise...
With that set of hones and some care
you will get many many great shaves....

Now that you have a "sharp shaver" you may
not need to unbox the 1k and 3k hones
except for once a year or so. You can
try a pyramid refresh with your 8K and 12K or
a progression with them alone. I find
that the 12K alone will refresh a razor for
me...

Do let your hones air dry slowly when not in use.

have fun...