Problems for a beginning honer
I've been spending a lot of time the past couple weeks trying different techniques that I have read about to get my Dovo Best Quality 5/8 razor back to shave ready condition, but I cannot seem to get a comfortable shave and it has become frustrating. Any help on where I went wrong would be great. Here is my honing story.
I went about 5 months without sharpening after receiving my razor professionally honed so I figured I would start on the 4k side of my Norton (freshly lapped on a DMT d8c).
After practicing honing everyday for a week on an old, non used razor from my grandpa. After I felt I had the technique down I went to my Dovo. After 10 laps on the 4k, my edge seemed to become even duller. I did 10 more laps with not much improvement and decided to finish on the 8k, strop and shave, but it would hardly cut hairs.
I spent a fair amount of time on the 4k the next day just doing x strokes and after at least 100 laps (checking sharpness tests along the way), the edge only felt marginally sharp in one small spot. I decided to see if that would shave any better and again honed on the 8k, stropped, and shaved. Again it was uncomfortable and did not cut well.
I posted on B&B that I needed help, and I had some quick and great responses. Here is the thread http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthr...for-a-beginner
I tried half strokes, circles, circles with slurry, pressure, no pressure, killing the edge and starting from scratch, pyramids, ect. Nothing was getting me a sharp edge and the 4k still seemed to make the edge duller!
I then decided to take the blade to my dad's japanese synthetic 800 grit stone that he used for chisels, thinking that my bevel was not set correctly. I spent a fair amount of time there and my bevel greatly improved. The TNT at that level passed and so did the marker test. Also, at this time, I was getting an even, consistent stroke.
I took my razor then to my Norton 4k and after checking every 10 laps, my blade seemed to dull (although not as bad as before) and get only marginally shaper after many more laps. I did a pyramid, stropped, and shaved. The shave was much closer, although it was still uncomfortable and not as close as I know it should be.
I have spent a couple more days trying different ways to get my razor sharp and it has not gotten much better. I am at the point where I can get a relatively close shave, but there is tugging, pulling, and discomfort.
Any help would be fantastic. Thank you.
Mat