Thread: What do you think of this honing process?

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Any new system interests me of course, as I hone quite a few razors..

I also have a plethora of buffers and with a multitude of different grits, a "shave den" stocked with every paste under the sun and most every stropping surface out there..

I just finished buffing and polishing 3 razors this morning, and the edges are sharper then most any knife out there, (trust me my fingers have suffered many times) yet the thought of trying to get a smooth comfortable edge out of them by stropping them in on any strop(s), makes my face tingle...
I keep thinking that any razor coming off the buffers I always kill that sharp edge on the corner of my 1k Chosera before I even set the bevel to take off those minute slivers of metal first.. Then I do it again to make sure the edge is even and smooth before proceeding to the higher grit stones...

Buffing a razor creates a very sharp, very uneven edge, and many times a very fagile one... as Oz already pointed out above, and I am just expounding on... Those of us that use buffers are quite familiar with what needs to be done after them, to attain a shave ready edge and it is a bit more than stropping (even a ton of stropping)... Please don't think I only mean from the lower grits, many razors only require polishing on the buffers...

So yes, I do question the process and the claims, and at that, I will stop as it looks like I am picking on you and I don't mean to, I just am trying to understand...

I understand your interest and frustration. Especially after that Carter Cutlery thread! I hope I didn't make any unfounded claims here, I was really just trying to determine if this guy was a good resource or not. The razor came out delivering a comfortable shave, and that's really all I can say with any amount of certainty. Hopefully in some time, and with some practice, I'll be able to discuss the finer points of honing and add to the conversation. In the meantime, I've contributed everything I can to the conversation, but I do think it would be interesting for you to contact Mr. Lorenz. Maybe you could even help him or present him with some useful information? I know you can't spend all your time talking to random people around the country trying to set them "straight".

Anyway, thanks again for all of the information.

I have tried to hone razors on my buffers since I got them. I have tried everything from Emory bars to green to rouges and so far, not much consistency with results. I have some leather belts for my Bader and I have tried honing on it as well with Chromium Oxide and Cerium. At best, every now and then I can get a razor to shave decently. I'm not sure if it's all about finding the same touch or the exact same time on both sides of the blade or even to be able to get the entire edge to match. I have had a little better luck from using a plain leather belt on the bader as a stropping mechanism after honing, but even with that, I don't end up with the same consistency as going from the stones to the strops. I have tried this on hundreds and hundreds of razors and will probably keep trying only because I like to experiment.

I tried the Carter method as well lately on about 20 razors and I can certainly get a razor to shave by following the video. The only problem so far is that the shaves have not been as comfortable as with other methods available. Was it worth trying? For me it was. There are many people now who sharpen razors and we see more offering services and methods every day. Try as many as you can as it will certainly help develop your own preferences. If something doesn't work well for me, it doesn't mean it's a bad process. It simply means I have used other methods that work better for me. I'm sure I will continue to try this method out to see if I can improve on it.

The only point I would make is that the more you hone and try other methods, including these, the more you learn. Every person who learns to hone, develops preferences in both materials and methods to try to find that edge that suits them the best. I really don't believe that there is a bestest hone, or process out there and that it really boils down to what is right for you. I get great satisfaction from teaching people how to hone and I love to see the smiles when someone shaves with the first razor that they hone by themselves. My door has been open for years to all who want to learn and I would encourage every straight razor shaver to learn to maintain their own razors and to help everyone they can become successful in every aspect of our sport. I hope we continue to see people presenting different methods and materials as our population and popularity grows.

Have fun

Thanks a lot Lynn, very well said. I agree that it is valuable to learn as much as you can from as many people as you can. I just received the Naniwa set of hones from SRD and I'm excited to start learning this new skill.

Originally Posted by Kees

Just ask him to let you test an edge he created the way described before you let him lay hands on your razors. Maybe he is a very innovative guy :-)

Exactly...try it out. While it doesn't seem like a method many of us are familiar with, it COULD work? Don't know until you try.

Originally Posted by rickboone

Exactly...try it out. While it doesn't seem like a method many of us are familiar with, it COULD work? Don't know until you try.

Rickboone, I did exactly that. See this post for results.