Need some help

[MortuusCruor]

Hey everyone,

I've been shaving with a straight for a bit over a year now, and I've been honing my razor myself for that long too. Well, I've been trying to. The thing is, whenever I hone it, it seems to just make it worse. Instead of making it sharper, it does the opposite. I always need to strop it for ages till it's sharp again. By the way, I use a norton 4k/8k dual stone. I guess what i'm asking is, How do I hone my razor, and actually make it sharper?

[nun2sharp]

IMO you can get a good shave from the Norton 8k, but not a great one. To get the best out of the Norton the last strokes should have less and less pressure on the blade to the point you wonder if you are doing anything at all. Use plenty of water at this point for lubrication and swarf removal. As a side note I have to ask, have you flattened the hone?

[MortuusCruor]

Thanks for the tip. And no, I haven't flattened it. How would I go about doing that? And does it even need flattening? I've only had it for a year.

[JohnnyHoodoo]

They need flattening out of the box brand new.See this video

[Blademen]

A DMT 325 would do the job.

[MortuusCruor]

I had no idea, thanks!