Thread: Beginner's Honing Journal

My Norton 4/8 and DMT325 arrived today from SRD. I also have a C12k from Woodcraft, but I don't plan on using it at all until I've become proficient at the Norton. Very excited. I'm going to take it a step at a time, so I wanted to document my learning steps and put them out there for people laugh at, comment on, ponder over and generally enjoy, both for good reasons and bad.

Tomorrow I'm going to lap it. First I'm going to soak it for 20 minutes then I'm going to make a pencil grid on the 4000 side and lap under running water with my DMT. I will repeat the pencil grid until I'm sure it's flat. I've read it's typical to remove about 1/8 of material. When it's done, I'm going to do the same thing on the 8000 side, which I don't anticipate will need as much lapping, correct?

I'm impressed with the DMT. It's a substantial thing that looks like it could stand up to a tank. Does it need to be soaked too? I'm thinking not, as it's metal but I figure I should ask.

After that I've got an old razor to butcher with it. And when this saga is over, it's on to handsanding and pinning. I wasn't expecting this level of hobbyism when I started out a few months ago!!!

And the lapping is done. It took me just over an hour, including breaks to rest my tired arms. I actually did the pencil grid 3 times per side. Not sure if that's overkill but I just wanted to be sure. I also made sure to round the edges and corners as best as I could.

I was really impressed by the quality of teh DMT325. It was amazing. I was also pleased with how smooth and glassy the 8k side was when I was finished. It took me a very long time to do the 8k side. I did 3 grids on the 4k side in under 15 minutes...3 grids on the 8k took about an hour. I don't want to think about how long it's going to take when I decide to lap my c12k...

Tomorrow, I'm going to try to set a bevel on my practice razor. Wish me luck.

The 4k side of my Norton combo didn't take too long to lap, but the 8k side was a PITA. The results are well worth the effort, though. The stone that I have was almost rougher on the 8k side than on the 4k side before lapping it flat.

For setting a bevel on a new-to-you razor, I'd go ahead and kill what ever edge is on the razor on a glass bottle or the side of the stone. It makes sure that you're actually feeling the edge that you've imparted on the razor instead of feeling whatever edge might be left on the razor from the last time it was honed. On subsequent honings, you won't necessarily have to kill the edge since you'll just be touching the edge up instead of starting from scratch. FWIW, I'm still a newb to honing, so take my advice with a grain of salt.

It doesn't need the edge killed. There just isn't one.

I do have a question that hopefully someone can answer. The edge has 2 or 3 very small chips, and some pitting. Like I said, this is a practice razor so I'm not concerned about it's shaveability. I just want to get used to the motions. That said, would it be a good idea for me to hone it on the DMT325 before the 4k side? If so, would I just do circles and x-strokes like I would on the 4k? Or should I just go to the 4k and see how it goes?

Its do-able on both the dmt and the 4k but, 325 to 4k is a big gap to bridge, and it may take you 6 hrs to take out a chip with your 4k.
I suggest you buy a 1k for this, 325 is a little agressive IMO.
I judge my bevel being set by ensuring it will cleanly cut arm hair at 1k, without it id be lost!

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One day I'll get a 1k, but it's not in the budget. These hones were gifts so I have to make do with what I have. They're pretty small, so if the 325 is aggressive I'll do it with the 4k. The repetition can't hurt for a beginner. You have to build that muscle memory after all!!

I had a conversation with Larry at WhippedDog.com about honing, and he told me that for some razors he does actually use the DMT 325 to set the bevel. I've never tried it, and I don't think many will condone it as an accepted practice. Regardless of your views on the matter, the jump from the 325 to a Norton 4k is a big one.

Ok, first attempt at some honing complete, and overall I'd call it a success. I spent about an hour on the 4k side and I got most of the chips out of the edge. There's still a tiny one at the point, but my arm was getting tired and I stopped. I'll pick it up next chance I get. I had a few questions and observations...

1. I was impressed that I got a half-decent-looking bevel, but it was uneven. One side of the razor the bevel looked remarkably good: relatively even and shiny. The other side, however, was uneven, and the last 1/2 inch toward the heel didn't seem to have a bevel at all. I assume this to be from my technique...the stroke toward me felt awkward and I had some trouble getting used to it. What should I do to remedy this?
2. Still, it got to be sharp enough to slice into the callous on my hand...not deep enough to bleed, but it was a nice clean slice and I'm lucky it was only a glancing blow...
3. Do I need to protect the 8k side of the norton while I'm using the 4k? A LOT of slurry and swarf collected under there while I was working...it was everywhere!!!

It seems this is actually going to be a nice razor! I really enjoyed this first go, and I think I'm about halfway to having a good bevel.

Hello folks! As things tend to go, after what I considered a solid first effort at honing, today's try was far less satisfying. AxelH gave me some helpful tips about a few things, and they turned out to be helpful, but I feel like I need a little nudge from someone who could help me.

I've been alternating circles and x-strokes and building up a pretty good amount of swarf. On one side of the razor, I can see a clear bevel that is decently even (considering I'm a raging beginner). The other side of the razor is a mess. The bevel is uneven and shaky...the edge at the heel, for about a 1/2 inch, is still not doing anything. I tried a bunch of strokes with more pressure on the heel, even tilting the razor slightly in what I think was a sort of rolling-x-stroke, and it actually started to take metal away in that problem area. Not much, but it seemed to be a start. The razor does not seem warped to me, so I'm not sure why it's doing this. The spine is even, so I don't think that's the problem...but again...raging beginner.

On the plus side, the TPT tells me that the razor is indeed sharper than it was when I started, and it actually shaved a few hairs off my arm. I did a TNT and I felt the edge dig into the nail smoothly, though at some areas of the edge felt smoother than others.

What could I do to help even out the beveling on both sides of the razor? I've been making a concerted effort to make my forward and back strokes as even as possible but apparently I'm not doing that.

Should I do something other than circles and x-strokes? More pressure? Less pressure? Would it be helpful to try running a magic marker on the edge?

BTW, this was brought up to me by more than one person...I am NOT using the Ontario razor I picked up for this. I put it away for it's own safety. All this midguided honing is being done to the unstamped razor.

Also BTW, I have 3 other razors that are shave-ready, so I know what the edge should feel like when I shave.

If I left out anything that would be helpful, let me know. And don't pull any punches on me.

I'm also learning to hone, so I don't have any advice other than to watch Glen's and Lynn's videos on YouTube. There's a ton of info to be gleaned from those. Also, if you have a specific question, you might PM Glen directly. He was nice enough to answer some questions for me that way.