Thread: The first successful honing!

So I am pretty excited about this:

I bought Norton combination waterstones earlier this year (220/1000 and 4000/8000) and decided to try my hand at honing. I guess I had pretty high expectations, since my first razor was honed by Lynn. I picked up a couple of cheaper razors to practice on, but I couldn't seem to get the hang of it. I considered my technique and spent a lot of time just thinking about it.

A couple of months ago, my grandfather gave me an old Red Point razor that he had for around 50 years, but never used. It had a dull knife edge, and needed some cleaning up. I figured that I could work on this one, and see the difference made by my efforts relatively quickly. At least I wasn't going to make it worse.

I set everything up, and set to it. I started with the 1000 grit, to set a bevel (it didn't really have one). I noticed right away that the stone was cutting relatively well, but the coverage along the edge was uneven. I focused on specific areas of the edge until I had an even bevel across the entire edge. After moving to the 4000 and eventually 8000, I did a shave test. Fantastic!

The thing that I most learned in this process was that until you have a good bevel, you're wasting your time on the finer grits. I also wasn't overly concerned with over-honing at this point, or counting strokes, or doing pyramids. I just did a few strokes, looked at the edge, and decided if I needed to do more. Not too complicated, but I had to stay with it. Stopping too early will discourage you when you come to the shave test.

The old Red Point is one of the best shavers that I have now, and my finishing was off of the 8000 grit. Obviously, I can shave well from the 8000, but I see that some people use a 12000, 30000, or pasted strop to finish. If anyone reads this all the way to the end, I would be interested to know what you use to finish the razor, if you hone.

Cheers,
Sam

Good job Sam!!! It is amazing how many ways there are to end up with a good edge including a Norton 8k. My favorite edges for me after much fun trying different stones natural and synthetic is off a German Water stone AKA eschers, thuringian etc. The diffences are subtle but palpable on your face. The more you hone the more you become able to discriminate between them and get the most out of the high end finishing.

Just as important is learning how to get the most out of the shave itself, both are art and science and why it becomes a lifetime learning process. Glad for you!

Mike

It is good to find some success, Sam, and you can build from there. I have a 12K, 16K, and 30K. I usually go from 8K to the 16K, and rarely on to the 30K when I want to get a bit shinier bevel. I've never shaved off 8K, and maybe I should, but the higher grits have a way of beckoning to me.

It's nice to hear about your first honing success. I know the feeling! I have had some success with my first few attempts, though I do wish my bevels were a bit more even. Still, the shaves have been good and they are smooth, comfortable and irritation-free. I have been finishing on my 8k for now, though I hope to try some other finishing options in the future. I have an Eastern European slate finisher, a Thuringian and a Chinese 12k. I also have a Coticule on the way, though I am not sure if I will try it out immediately or wait for a few more honing attempts on the Nortons. I've read that a coti can take you from bevel to finish all on the same stone, so there is something appealing about that

The 8K was comfortable, but I'd like to see how a finer grit could improve an already great experience. Thanks for the comments!

Congratulations!! There's not much more satisfying than shaving with edges that you honed yourself!! I have a Chinese 12K that works well for finishing. Then I use .5 CrOx on the back of my Filly Strop.

+1 to Cages comments - I couldn't agree more with the feeling of satisfaction from honing your own blades.
I shaved for quite a while off the 8k 'cause that was the finest I had.
I also started out with a PHIG as a finisher and now have a jnat (yes, only one), a coticle and a Thuringian.
I'm looking at either a Naniwa 12k or a Sigma 13k to complete the arsenal.
I don't think I'll need more than that, however, that doesn't mean I won't buy more....hehehe
Hang on and enjoy the ride

Congrats on getting the Redpoint, very good blades! Also congrats on getting her ready to go. I use a natural stone called a Thuringian, Escher is the most popular brand name and then I will use a paddle strop with Chrome Oxide embedded in the leather, strop the holy bejeezus out of it and I am ready to go. Sharp and smooooth!

I just had my first success last week, so I'm not such an expert. I have the Norton set, and a thuringian, and a coti/bbw combo. I haven't done any real finishing yet. Pretty much everything I do is experimentation, examination, and recording. I don't make up my own experiments though. I pull them all out of SRP.

Contrats on the honing success. I like to finish on my ozuka asagi and the make a few laps on a la grosse juane or other coti to mellow the edge a bit. I have tried about every natural hone that I have heard of and the coti edge is still my favorite. I have reduced my collection of hones to coticule and jnats and one trans ark. And I mainly use the ark for knives. Thats all I liked to use anyway so I sold or traded all the others. It may take some time but you will find what works for you. Natural stones are liquid investments so buy and sell a few until you find what you like best.