Thread: Help with honing my straight

Hello guys i need some advice from you:

Since i live here in Mexico i suppose that you understand that is not easy for me to send my straights to a pro sharpening shop.

So here it is the thing:

I have a Boker Edelweiss straight razor thats has become dull after months of use and i would like to learn how to hone it by myself.

I have some experience in honing knives but not in honing razors that is another whole thing, isnt it?

well:

The only instruments that i have are:

1.- A Böker belgium blue stone that does not show the grit. but i believe is aroun 5,000.
2.- A Norton two sided stones 4000 and 8000 Grit.
3.- An arkansas translucent stone that does not says the Grit but i dont think is useable for this job because i bought it in a knife store.
4.- My leather strop belt (not paddle)

and thats it.

I know i can find tutorials here and in other places over the internet but it seems that always they are using diferents stones, so the question is: what can i do with this equipment i have?

Can i go far enough to give my straight a good shape or i need to buy another stone?

Please thing that i cannot get stones here in mexico as far as i know, so if i really need another stone i have tu buy it trough the internet and it takes time to be delivered to mexico.

So any ideas for me?

sincerely

Sergio

I'd say you have what you need to get that Boker back to shave ready.
The Norton 4/8 was up untill a couple years ago pretty much the go-to hones for many of the experienced guys. Still is in fact

Try to search out gssixgun's tips and videos on how to get a razor back to shave ready.
There are tons of others as well.

The wiki on here contains tons of info on starting out with honing. Check it out

Good luck.

You can raise a slurry on the 4k side of the Norton to increase the cutting power as well, if you need a more aggressive stone. I totally agree with B though, you have everything you need to get a blade shave ready and you should be able to get a great edge off the 8k side of the Norton.

Check out Glens youtube vids and also the clips of Lynn honing at the '09 convention. Those will really help you on your way!

Good luck and keep us posted!

The norton 4/8 is a great stone and if you didn't let your Boker go for too long all you really need. Here is the pyramid guide from the SRP Wiki. It was written with the norton in mind though other brands/grits can be substituted just as well. Here is an alternative pyramid guide as well. I learned on the pyramids with the norton and though I use the circle method now on some razors I still like the pyramid for others.

Use can use the norton 4/8K it is an amazing stone, my favorite hone ever because it just does everything. You can raise a little slurry to make the 4K cut faster to set a bevel, you can use just water too. Use 4K until the bevel is set so you can cut your arm hair. It should pop easily at this point not pull. Depending on your razor and how bad the edge has gotten this may take more or less time, etc.

ONLY go to the 8K side if you're done on the 4K. The best way I know to make sure you're done on the 4K side is to start on the 8K and if you see metal swarf on the 8K side, STOP. You went to the 8K too early and need to go back to the 4K. You can check every 20 strokes or so and see if the 8K shows steel on it, if it does keep going back to the 4K side.

Once you're ready to be on the 8K only make about 20-30 strokes, very light ones. If you do more than that and you're edge is ready to be on the 8K then you can make the edge fragile, it will chip when you shave with it or break down. If you do this right you can shave off the 8K side easily and you will have a satisfying shave, then you can use finer finishing stones or pastes, etc. The 8K side should cut arm hair midlength fairly silently and easily, it depends on your hair.

Keep in mind I am not mentioning faults with the razor, if there is warps, wacky hone wear from past honings, etc.
Make sure you're strokes are thorough and full meaning the water gets cut with the razor all the way from the toe to the heel.

Thanks for your answers guys, im gonna work on that, i just have one question, when you say raise some slurry, what is that mean? i dont speak english as a first language so as you can see my knowledge is less than perfect LOL, you mean some abrassive substance? which one? Thanks Again.

Sergio

Originally Posted by xe3vw

Thanks for your answers guys, im gonna work on that, i just have one question, when you say raise some slurry, what is that mean? i dont speak english as a first language so as you can see my knowledge is less than perfect LOL, you mean some abrassive substance? which one? Thanks Again.

Sergio

Sergio, If I were you I wouldn't worry about slurry as a beginning honer .... you will just be muddying the waters .... if you'll pardon the pun . That is when you take another stone usually smaller than your hone and rub the hone with the 'slurry stone' to create a solution of loose grit floating in the honing vehicle (water). Generally makes the hone cut faster but at your stage of the game just working on stroke and pressure is more important. When you can hone well without it begin to experiment with slurry but not before. Just IMHO.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Sergio, If I were you I wouldn't worry about slurry as a beginning honer .... you will just be muddying the waters .... if you'll pardon the pun . That is when you take another stone usually smaller than your hone and rub the hone with the 'slurry stone' to create a solution of loose grit floating in the honing vehicle (water). Generally makes the hone cut faster but at your stage of the game just working on stroke and pressure is more important. When you can hone well without it begin to experiment with slurry but not before. Just IMHO.

Using slurry when you're learning can also give you the wrong feel for the speed of the hone you're trying to learn. Good Advise, Jimmy.

xe3vw,

+1 to Stubears' suggestion of the most excellent video tutorials by GSSixgun :

gssixgun - YouTube

Have fun !

Best regards

Russ

This sounds like a touch up. 10 light passes on an 8k might have you up and running for another 6 months.