Thread: New to honing: The One Stone Honing Method

Being that this was on my mind last night, I decided to do something about it; so called, the put my money where my mouth is, so to speak. What I did was run a Lion Brand by Yankee Cutlery 5/8 over my bevel setter. I then took it right to my two (2) sided barber's hone. I did maybe two or three (2-3)"hard" passes and a couple of lighter ones on the first side. Then I did about ten (10) on the brown side; that is, the finishing side. I then did about as many on the same side very lightly with some lather. I then ran it across my pasted linen three (3) times. Then about twenty (20) on pasted leather. I then did about twenty (20) on pasted leather, and then finished it on the linen and then leather. It shaved beautifully! Though, I must admit, basically, the bevel was probably already set. But, all-in-all, as far as the barber's hone go, it can be done. But, like gssixgun says, setting the bevel is paramount to a successful honing. In addition, you really NEED to have a pasted strop or two on hand to achieve optimum sharpness. Another caveat: you really need to appreciate what it is you're trying to achieve and each and every blade should be considered individually.

That's great. Why did you go down to a bevel setter for a touch up?

It wasn't that, it actually didn't need the bevel set, but I figured that's where I should start, with a "new" bevel. Basically, all I did was re-hone a dull razor on the one stone. It can be done, if - and that's where I can't put emphasis - you "understand" how to hone and understand what you're trying to accomplish. Personally, I have been surrounded by hone stones and honing since I was a boy. So while straight razor honing is something I've only come to as of late, I have been honing my whole life. And, while this may draw some ire from the hardcore profs. on this site, it's not exactly brain surgery. You really just need to understand what you're trying to accomplish and how one goes about doing that. And if you're not successful, just put the blade back on the stone(s) and keep at it. Of course, that's easy for me to say, if you just spent a lot of money on your razor, you should probably have some razors under your belt first.