Thread: narrow hone for smiley?

Originally Posted by mparker762

Yes, you're missing something: If the razor is smiling, then only one point of the edge will touch the hone at any given time.

Mparker, I (finally) understand the logic of the rocking method. And this isn't the first time you've patiently explained it to me. I've never held a smiley in hand (I have one on its way), so I had trouble visualizing it – I imagined that even though the edge is curved (when viewed from the side) because of its varying distance from the spine, its face would still be planar (aside from the hollowing) and therefore spine and edge would lie flat. If the spine and edge described a plane, then obviously with even the slightest rocking the only hone-razor contact would be at the hone-edge.

Now I get it though – sorry for my obtuseness. Many thanks for your good advice as always.

Yep, that's right. I didn't understand it either until I accidentally bought one on ebay, once I actually saw one it was obvious how to hone it.

Originally Posted by mparker762

When I do this on my smiling 8/8 W&B frameback, the razor leaves a pencil-thin black swarf trail that starts at the edge of the hone where the heel touches at the beginning of the stroke, then arcs out and across the hone to the other side where the toe touches at the end of the stroke. A full pass leaves a black 'X' on my hone from the metal swarf. If I do the X pattern then I get the same result only it's confined to the near side of the hone because the toe winds up near the middle of the hone by the time the blade rocks around to it -- this is why you can hone a smiling blade on a narrow hone.

Mparker,

What sort of ultra fast cutting stone do you use that leaves a swarf trail with every pass? I have never seen anything like that on my hones. After a few passes the water on the stone gets a bit greyish due to swarfparticles. I never get any patterns on my hone at all.

Both my shapton 8k and 15k do this.

I do not own a Shapton, only a coticule, a Thuringer and some Arkansas. Interesting phenomenon though. You're razors do not happen to shrink 1/16" every time you hone them?

It's not that the shaptons are particularly fast cutters (they aren't), but they just show off the swarf trail particularly well. I've never seen any sort of swarf trail on my norton on either side, no matter how many laps or circular passes I do, I have
no idea why. But both of my shaptons do; actually the 15k does this more clearly than the 8k.

I don't keep water sloshing around on the top of my shaptons, I just keep them wet. I do keep a puddle on the top of the norton.

You can see a similar effect with an arkansas stone and a thin film of oil, you won't see the swarf trail but you will see the clear track in the oil where the blade was touching the stone.

I only use water on my Arkansas, I feel oil clogs them up.

I feel the same way about oil - I generally use lather on mine.

Good thread guys! Well done!