Thread: What do you think of this honing process?

The grinding wheel is a bad omen for
multiple reasons....

The most important one is that the bevel angle
is likely going to be wrong for you to maintain the
edge yourself. A razor is unique in that the
spine is intended to be a honing guide. As a guide
it lets you maintain a very precise angle that is
exactly what it was months ago when it was last
honed.

Next the unknown grit of the wheel makes us all
gasp. Some special wheels are used in razor factories
to hone razors. These exceptional wheels require
a true razor professional because they remove steel
so fast that only the special situation of a factory justifies
their use. In general these are also flat horizontal wheels
and not a common grinders wheel.

It is true that some folk can hone a garden hoe
to a razor sharp edge. But can you maintain it....

My thought.... price his new razors and if the
razor is well priced go for it. In part the price
should leave room so you can send it out to
someone that hones razors in a way that
you can maintain should you decide to.

About once a month or so in the classified
I see bargains for well honed sound scale
razors. Keep you eyes open.

I know exactly who you are talking about, and you should keep him away from your razor-- he does do a helluva job on kitchen cutlery though. I spent some time talking to him, and no, he has never used a straight razor before. Like has already been said, the wheel is the disconcerting part, and I've heard a few horror stories about razors that have come out of his shop. Anyway, do what you will; but if you need any local honing help, just shoot me a PM. BTW, I don't hone for money, so I'm not just blowing smoke in order to turn a profit. Good luck.

I don't understand you. I wouldn't even give him a razor to sharpen if he would do it for free. In my book, he seems like the tipical knife guy, who doesn't know squat about razors. Give him a new chinese 5$ razor, or nothing. But I warn you, I am 99% sure that your razor will be ruined, and you will have an unusable razor, and -15$.

Thank you all again very much for the advice and for sharing your knowledge. You all have convinced me that I'd much rather spend some money on a set of hones and a nice strop than continuing to shop around. I haven't honed before, but it's definitely time to learn.

I'm still heading to this gentleman's shop today, and I'll do my best to share what I've learned here with him. I'm still going to have him sharpen a razor of mine, if for no other reason so that I can return to his shop and show the difference between his and a properly sharpened razor.

Originally Posted by chay2K

I know exactly who you are talking about, and you should keep him away from your razor-- he does do a helluva job on kitchen cutlery though. I spent some time talking to him, and no, he has never used a straight razor before. Like has already been said, the wheel is the disconcerting part, and I've heard a few horror stories about razors that have come out of his shop. Anyway, do what you will; but if you need any local honing help, just shoot me a PM. BTW, I don't hone for money, so I'm not just blowing smoke in order to turn a profit. Good luck.

Chay, thank you very much for your generous offer. I'll send you a message.

Originally Posted by paco664

Just a post so i can follow the saga...carry on normally...

Why not use the feature "Thread tools" to subscribe to a thread?

Originally Posted by Kees

Why not use the feature "Thread tools" to subscribe to a thread?

because i like the road less traveled....

Okay guys, here's the update.

I went back to the knife shop today and talked to the guy. Like Chay said he doesn't know a ton about straight razors, nor does he use them himself. But I made a huge mistake earlier in this thread. He uses a buffer NOT a grinding wheel. I told him about seeking advice here and some of the responses, and that I used the term grinding wheel (because I don't know what the heck I'm talking about, obviously). His response was "Oh no, don't tell people I'm using a grinding wheel on a straight razor, they'll think I'm an idiot!". The buffer wheel is partially aluminum oxide if that helps anyone identify it. He said he barely uses it and checks the razor edge with a loupe. I also asked him why he uses a buffer wheel instead of stones, and his response was basically "because I have a buffer."

Also, I made a mistake on the stropping process. Altogether he ends up doing 400 strokes on 3 different strops.

So, that being said, does that make more sense to everyone?I realize of course that the process doesn't mater, how well the razor shaves is what matters, so I left him one of my razors as planned. I should be able to pick it up Wednesday or Thursday, so I'll report back and let everyone know the results.

A buffer can still be harsh on an edge but he must have a light touch if he uses it a lot. You will have a convexed edge & will need to set a new bevel should you choose to use stones to maintain the edge later but as was mentioned earlier progressive pasted strops are used in other parts of the world so it could be ok. I'm just wondering how he knows it's ready if he doesn't shavetest.

Still doesn't make sense to me, BUT, there are a lot of different ways to do things in this sport. He may have one of them, he may not... I am curious to hear what the edge is like!

When I spoke with this gentleman a few years ago about his honing procedure, he stated "First I take it to the wheel..." I assumed that he meant a grinding wheel, because he has quite a few of them in the back of his shop-- so, now I'm interested to see how this turns out.

Also, I love stropping, so now I'm intrigued by this whole progressive pasted strop idea; with only a total of 400 strokes on the stops to hone a razor, it sounds like it could be a very effecient method.