Thread: 4 hours on 3k, and still not enough

Originally Posted by bemil

And I am still confused, 'cause some advice me to buy a 1k, whereas other advice me to stop trying, and focusing on the fine grits and stropping with another razor (or with this one honed by an experienced honer)

The point here is that the best thing to do, based on several peoples experience, is to either a) Get the razor you already got honed to a true shave ready state or b) Get a second truly shave ready razor. Either which you choose you will be sure to have a razor that will work as a benchmark when you practice honing, and you will get to know how a "real" straight should be like.
This way you can focus on stropping and "light honing" i.e. keeping the edge shave ready on a high grit stone.

If you on the other hand is determined to keep trying to hone it yourself (and I don't say you won't get it to shave eventually, but there is a risk of ruin the blade), a 1K stone is to reccomend to ease up the bevel setting process.

Anyway you choose, as long as you are going to hone a razor, whether it be just maintaining the edge or a full progression, lapping the hones and making sure they are completely flat is of great importance, if they're not you will get bad results.

it really does sound like it might be a case of over honing based on what everyone has said here, I just wanted to state my thoughts, I am not a big person on honing right now but am trying to learn as I go along....hope you figure it out...keep us posted

You might want to consider lapping your stone flat before doing anyting else. Personally - I wouldn't want to set a bevel on a 3k SS, especially if the steel is very hard. But - that's just me. I suppose it can be done - but I would choose a more coarse stone for that work.
Post a photo of the blade please, both sides. Without seeing the blade there is no way to give adivice or offer suggestions.
What I do think is that the 3k isn't coarse enough for what you are trying to do, the stone might not be flat, and you're not using enough pressure to get the bevel cut right. Pressure - I don't mean pressing the blade hard into the stone. I mean just enough to get the stone to cut the steel.
Also - its possible your stone is glazed over - I have only seen that on a 12k a few times but I think its possible on any SS... a good lapping will correct that.

Are you cutting steel? Is there swarf on the stone? Have you done a MM test to see if the existing bevel is making contact with the hone? How wet is the stone when you're honing? Did you soak it a little bit or use it splash-go style? Are the edge of the stone chamfered?

Sorry to ask a lot of questons but if you can answer some/all of them plus post photos someone might be able to offer help.

Originally Posted by U2Bono269

Maybe you could try stepping up to the 8k and seeing how it shaves? Might be worth it just to see what it feels like on your face...

I like this idea. I would do 20 on the 8k and test it out. You have your other razor to back you up if it doesn't work. Use the feedback from your face. Stop right away if it doesn't feel right! :-] Go back to 20 on the 3k and then 20 on the 8k. Test again and see what happens. Repeat. Similar to the pyramid system but stop and test between every step don't do it all at once.

I see a lot of good advice here but I haven't seen the magic marker test mentioned. If you have done your research you know what i mean. From what I gather you are getting inconsistent results = inconsistent strokes.

Play with it. Your first attempt is going to be junk when you are done. My first attempt is used as a knife on my work bench!

I had a recent experience that put it into perspective for me. I did the best i could do with a blade. I went to a person who could judge it. He gave me a few ideas to try. I tried them. It was a little better. I then said lets see how you could improve it. he couldn't.
No disrespect to him but I was chasing something that wasn't there. The point that I am trying to make here is that you can say that one blade is shave ready. But is yours the same thing? Don't compare a Macintosh to a Fireside. {Apples to Apples.}

Tim

Emil. A couple of things I know from experience.
1. The one new Puma I honed was warped in the spine. Quality is not like the vintage Pumas. This may account for you having some areas sharp & others blunt. You will need to adapt your stroke to make contact with the whole edge use the magic marker test to assess contact .

Bevel-setting in theory and practice - Straight Razor Place Wiki

2. Kasumi stones are verrry soft & need lapping frequently. They are made for stainless knives not razors. They also cut very fast & work best on light pressure which you say you are using. As fast as they are a 3k does not replace a 1k if it is needed.
The other VIP thing is that the 3/8k's I have seen &/or used are mis-labeled. The white side is 3k & the yellow is 8k. If you are using the yellow side thinking it is 3k it is no wonder you are getting nowhere. Hope this helps.

Hi everyone,

Thank you very much for your advice. Right now I don't feel like keep trying to set the bevel. I am very tempted to say yes to the offer, Zephyr gave me, and send it to him.

Let me try to answer some of the questions. I did flatten the hone, but maybe not enough. I am cutting steel, yes. And I do see the stone get another color, which I can remove with water, so that must be swarf.
I have not made the magic marker test, as I do not have a loupe, and without that it is just to small to see. The stone is pretty wet when i use it, but most of the water obviously fall off, when I start to hone.
I can tell that there has been metal removed from both the spine and the edge, so I suppose that the stone is not mislabeled, but I have done a little honing on the 8k, so I couldn't tell for sure.

Again, thank you everyone for the advice. I feel kind of discouraged at the moment, so I think that I will spend the weekend without thinking on my razor problem, and then make a decision in the next week.

Kindly, Emil.

I just found out that the notifications of the grits on the case of my 3k/8k water stone are the opposite of what was printed on the stone.
Anyone else having a problem getting a bevel set on a 8k ???

Originally Posted by bemil

I just found out that the notifications of the grits on the case of my 3k/8k water stone are the opposite of what was printed on the stone.
Anyone else having a problem getting a bevel set on a 8k ???

You can't set a bevel on an 8k.

Originally Posted by U2Bono269

You can't set a bevel on an 8k.

That's my point. It could be my problem, that what I thought was a 3k, really is a 8k.

When a new person asks for honing advice, the advice given is usually to send it out for honing. That, by itself, won't help you learn to set bevels but it will ease your overall straight razor learning process.
You can just learn to hone, but it takes a lot of practice, discussion, and perseverance to do it. And eventually you will feel the need to compare and validate your work. Comparing and validating means testing other blades and having yours tested out by others.
Anyone who learns to hone risks damaging a razor. Here you have to consider the cost of the razor and decide if it's too risky. You are only gambling the cost of the blade. Get a 10 dollar razor of eBay and practice with that.
If you have to set a bevel, then it can be done on 4k. Just takes a little time. You need to use pressures w your circles to do that. You must learn the marker test, whether or not you have a loupe. Get a 3 dollar loupe off amazon.

Getting your razor honed and learning touch ups/stropping will get you started. If you are easily discouraged that may be for you.

Michael