Thread: extensive honing?

I'm still very new to honing. I have a friends razor I'm honing for him, and it's taking a long time. How long is too long? I'm sure there's not a wire edge, it feels like I've been on this blade forever. I took a chip out with my 220, set the bevel with the 1k, and I did the pyramid with the 4/8k. I'm getting there slowly but surely. I just want to check with y'all to see if this is common for it to take so long.

Without know what brand razor it is and just taking a wild guess... The bevel is not completely set.

What test are you using to evaluate the shave readiness?

Originally Posted by JeffC79

I'm still very new to honing. I have a friends razor I'm honing for him, and it's taking a long time. How long is too long? I'm sure there's not a wire edge, it feels like I've been on this blade forever. I took a chip out with my 220, set the bevel with the 1k, and I did the pyramid with the 4/8k. I'm getting there slowly but surely. I just want to check with y'all to see if this is common for it to take so long.

The razor is a C.S. Bresnick Diamond Steel Wedge. I used the 1k until I could take off some arm hair before I went to the 4/8k. I'm using one piece of tape. You think I should go back to the 1k?

That is a rather rare razor to be "very new to honing" ... not saying you won't get there but that is a rather rare razor...

Wedges take longer but most of the Solingen "Wedges" are actual a 1/4 wedge so they hone almost as easy as a Hollow unless it had issues then no telling how long it can take

the taking off arm hair thing can be a tricky test without knowing what you're looking for...you should be able to take arm hair off quite cleanly without much difficulty at the 1k level. I don't know what you mean by take off some arm hair, but it might be a good idea to go back to the 1k to be sure. You'd be surprised how sharp you can get the blade with the 1k. I think a lot of the work you're doing now with the 4k/8k would be faster done with the 1k. Just my thoughts.

Try marking the very edge with a few sharpie dots and make sure they are being removed all along the blade. When that happens, and you're shaving arm hair with ease, then go on to your white and yellow stones.

Also, be sure your pressure is light. Heavy pressure (especially at the 1k) will wear down your tape a bit causing the edge to lift off the hone just enough to frustrate you. Change your tape too, if need be.

Good luck!

In some thread Sham said the thing that differentiates a good honer from a learning honer is knowing when to stop. Easier said than done. My usual routine is to rely on the thumbnail test to assess where I am with the bevel set. When I get a strong, smooth and even resistance from heel to point I do another 10 or so round trips on the 1k and then go to the 4k. Popping hair off the arm or leg comes later for me. Sometimes I've repeated the pyramid a couple of times to get 'there' but it really depends on the razor. You've done some work removing the chip that may have an influence on the profile of the bevel and be contributing to the difficulty. Long as you didn't breadknife it you ought to be getting there eventually. They are all different so it is hard to say without seeing it. Good luck.

There is no such thing as fast honing. There are plenty of guys who apply far too many strokes though.

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

There is no such thing as fast honing. There are plenty of guys who apply far too many strokes though.

Ya mean it's not the same thing as fast food and fast cars and fast women?

The OP didn't say how long he has spent on this project.

Glen is right, that's an uncommon model. I wouldn't be messing around with it unless I had a fair bit of experience.

Just remember what Confucius says- "man who hone good razor with no experience wind up with no good razor".

There might be a similarity to fast women. You often pass over the good ones, in a hurry to hone the next one.

You guys are right. I'm going to stop before I ruin my friends first razor, especially a rare one. I told him I would do it for free and if I couldn't get it shave ready I would send it to a pro, on me. So, I'll be sending you an email sometime soon Glen.