Thread: Problems for a beginning honer

Yes, all hones need to be lapped. Some people even work on their DMTs before using them.

Originally Posted by SixNipples

Do all new hones need to be lapped?

No not all but many.

There are two issues: flatness and a manufacturing rind.

Flatness is easy to check. Draw a grid on the hone with
a #2 pencil and lap half a sheet of paper thickness off. The grid should
vanish or almost vanish. Flatness is most important when
changing grits. Those with a single finisher/ maintainer can
be casual about flatness and go old school honing on the
high spots to even out the wear.

The rind is more interesting and depends on how the hone
was made. Since making hones is often a trade secret I am
guessing... I believe that a binder and abrasive are mixed and
then packed into a mold. Time, air, heat and light are used to
cure the binder and in some cases a rind can forms perhaps as
a reaction with a release agent or perhaps just a surface effect.
Lapping that surface rind should not take a long time under running
water with a DMT and only needs to be done once. No need to
remove a lot of hone... It is too easy to get OCD and wash a
lot of hone down the drain. Thickness of a dime, one time, should get
the job done, often less.

After that one time lap only for a light slurry or to keep the hone
flat... think half a sheet of paper in terms of thickness.

I'm happy to report that each shave is getting better and better. I have been doing short honing sessions and following some of your tips. Thanks everyone.

I'm going to venture to say that you really aren't getting good shaves yet (just a hunch) but that you don't want to seem bothersome, so I'm going to give you further advice:

1: If your norton is new, take off a FULL 1/8" off the top with a lapping stone or sandpaper, no matter how smooth you think it is.
2. Stay on the 4k until you can cut wet arm hairs easily. You will need a little bit of pressure on each side until this happens. Once it happens, do 50 more "weightless" strokes before going to your 8k with slurry.
3. Every ten strokes on the 8k, put 5 drops of water on the hone, and clean the slurry off the razor.
4. when you eventually get to water only on the 8k, do thirty more weightless strokes.
5. use one hand to hold your razor while honing

Not to be defensive, but I am actually getting good shaves. I have been straight razor shaving for 5 months now and am getting the best shaves yet (now that I have better shaving technique). I know there is room for improvement on the Norton, but overall I am happy with my honing results.

Originally Posted by mgrewe

Not to be defensive, but I am actually getting good shaves. I have been straight razor shaving for 5 months now and am getting the best shaves yet (now that I have better shaving technique). I know there is room for improvement on the Norton, but overall I am happy with my honing results.

Sounds like you're on the right track. With a constant method, honing will keep getting better. Eventually that plateaus, and then you start playing with all the fancy stuff... where you're at is fun, you get to experience such noticeable progress every shave! Keep at it, and you'll be an old pro before you know it...

You might also try stropping on newspaper after the stone, before the leather. I used that technique earlier and I'm quite happy with the results. Nice smooth shave, no irritation.

Originally Posted by myersn024

You might also try stropping on newspaper after the stone, before the leather. I used that technique earlier and I'm quite happy with the results. Nice smooth shave, no irritation.

I read about the newspaper trick and was going to try it after I get consistently great shaves off the 8k. By the way, what do you put the newspaper on when stropping?

I wrapped the newspaper around a balsa plank and used that and it worked like a charm. You can put it on anything as long as it's flat. If the surface is hard, like a counter top or glass, you might want to use two layers of paper. On the balsa, one layer of paper was all I used. I did 200 laps on the newspaper after the 8k, then 150 laps on leather. The 150 on leather was probably a little over kill, but the shave was super smooth so I must have done something right. From my limited experience, I've realized that this honing stuff can be tricky, but it isn't the black magic that it sometimes seems to be.

Awesome thanks.