Thread: How long.....

So i know this is probably a YMMV type of question but i figured i'd ask it any way........

how long does it take you personally to hone a razor from start to shave ready?

just curious like i said i know this is a YMWV question but thought it good to ask.


thanks

That's really like asking 'how long is a piece of string?'
I haven't honed that many razors, however, I can usually go from the buffers to shave test ready in about 3/4 to 1 hour.
Having said that, I am learning my natural hones ATM (jnat, coticle and Thuringian) so it is taking longer than it would on the sythetics.
Then there is the smiling wedge that took quite a while - it was my first
You were correct to say YMMV...hehe

Definitely a YMWV question.

I can take a razor, straight or smiling, from bevel setting to shave ready in about 30min if I focus on it (like not watching TV in between sets), but on the other hand, I have one razor I can spend hours on and I'm still not happy with it. (In fact, that razor's awaiting a shave test...probably on Monday)

Maybe more helpful is, I can generally get a razor through bevel setting with 40 strokes on a 1k Norton, sharpen in 40 on a 4k Norton, refine in 40-80 on an 8k, and because I don't have a higher stone yet, I strop and shave and usually am pretty happy.

FWIW

Peace,
Jim

On average I would say about 15-20 minutes depending on the condition of the blade.

I always like to answer this with a qualifier

Once the bevel is set it takes 15 -20 minutes to be shave testing...

The real variable is in the bevel set, that can take 5 minutes to 3 hours (my personal longest), BTW I don't ever recommend trying to push a bevel set longer than 1 hour... You start to go hone nuts after 1 hour, best to just walk away, then come back to that razor later...

Reminds me of a W&B smiley blade that had swiss cheese for metal, I spent hours and hours over the course of two weeks just to see if I could get down to any good metal, I won in the end.

If it's in good condition with a bevel 15-30 mins

on average about 15-20 minutes. I've found that getting the bevel set properly is key. Then the rest of the work goes quickly.

Reading this post I see that bevel setting is the key.
I personally hone on Naniwas SS 1k, 3/8 k, 12k

My problem is that I spend lots and lots of time on the 1k to get to the point where I can cut my arms hairs (sometimes I don't even reach that point).
Then I move on to the 3/8 k and very often I ruin what I achieved on the 1k.
It is becoming very frustrating

Any idea or advise ?

(Sorry if it is not very clear, I'm french !)

Well, it depends...

Was the razor found in an antique shop with chips and warps all over the place? Was it from ebay in decent condition? Has the temper gone bad from someone reheating the blade to restore the look of it?

If the razor is okay it only takes me 20 minutes or so, tops. But if the temper is messed up you may have to hone a lot of steel off to get to new steel, but sometimes that doesn't even work. A lot of Ebay razors that look shiney have this problem now, more and more people are heating the blades for restore and sell.

So I think you're going to get a lot of varying answers on the question since all the old razors we hone all have different problems in different degrees. Then you have the steel of the razor itself, is it tempered hard, medium hard, soft steel, etc...Some razors are harder steel than others.