Thread: Yet another honing guide !

If you cant shave hair of your arm, there is no point of going any further, you MUST be able to shave your arm hair easily,
if not keep going till you do without the bevel not set correctly it just wont work. Keep doing x strokes till you can shave arm hair easilly then go up. Im no expert but i did have the same problem and once you get a good bevel and go up it will all come together.

My Lord! ......,seems complicated! Sounds like what we all have been through. By all means, ......get it on........

Originally Posted by Martin103

If you can't shave hair of your arm, there is no point of going any further, you MUST be able to shave your arm hair easily,
I'm no expert but i did have the same problem and once you get a good bevel and go up it will all come together.

Well... among the references I can't find any more, there were quite a few about people who had very good edges (shave tested) and who could not pop arm hair. Namely, in one post, the same (shave ready) razor popped arm hair on one arm but not another (not of the same guy of course ).

So I know this is likely to be my main problem (an unset bevel), but I also wanted to explain why I thought this test may not be relevant to me (good TNT and possible wrong type of arm hair).


Christophe

So I know this is likely to be my main problem (an unset bevel), but I also wanted to explain why I thought this test may not be relevant to me (good TNT and possible wrong type of arm hair).
Christophe i agree your problem is you dont have the bevel set.personally i would stay away from circles and do x strokes till you get the bevel set correctly then the fun begins.

It is good that you are trying different approaches on the one hand, to see what works best for you. OTOH, if you were to stick with one approach until you have it down well .... and then move on to experimenting with other techniques it might be easier to get where you want to go. Kind of like the great jazz tenor sax player Charlie Parker said,"Master your instrument, and then forget all that sh!t and play.?

I started out with the pyramids. I would set the bevel on the 1k and then move to the 4/8 pyramid. I'd finish with x strokes on whichever 'finisher' I chose. I did try Lynn's circles/x strokes method but found myself coming back to the pyramids and remain with them now. Subject to change if I get the notion but it is working for me so why fix it. They used to say that the pyramids were a good beginner method.

It is a set series of strokes numerically so that takes some of the 'judgment' out of it. IOW, you go by the numbers, not when you think it is time to move to the next grit. The judgment can come later with more experience. Sort of creeps in and happens. BTW, another thing I learned was not to move above the 8k until I had a successful shave test. The 8k is , after all, a finisher. There are newer stones on the block but at one time in the straight razor internet world that was the ultimate. Anyway, if you go past 8k before it is time it is counter productive.

On the matter of 'type of arm hair.' I used to think that I couldn't get HHT with any regularity because my ultra fine and flighty hair was the fault. Then one day I picked up a DE blade and did HHT with a hair that wasn't getting it with my freshly honed straight. As time and experience passed I found that my hair must have gotten coarser or my honing improved because now it is HHT positive more often than not. So anyway, look forward to reading of your journey. Don't get frustrated, it takes time and most of us had to pay the same dues.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

It is good that you are trying different approaches on the one hand, to see what works best for you. OTOH, if you were to stick with one approach until you have it down well .... and then move on to experimenting with other techniques it might be easier to get where you want to go.

Yes indeed.
However, and exactly like for the "stopping at the 8k level the first times", it's just very hard to resist the temptation. I know I should minimize the number of variables in my technique, to make it easier to isolate problems, but I think we're all like kids when it comes to learning to hone: you just won't listen to the more experienced ones .

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

As time and experience passed I found that my hair must have gotten coarser or my honing improved because now it is HHT positive more often than not.

I like how you don't neglect any possible explanations a priori


Thanks
Christophe