Thread: New guy question

I am very new to honing (still trying to figure out what I am doing wrong new). I have bought a few razors off the Bay and was wondering how you can tell if they had been honed using tape or not. Do most people just bread knife their auction purchases and start from scratch?

Bread knifing is an extreme measure generally best reserved for chip and heavy frown repair.
with and 'bay blade i usually tape, taping really just cuts down on your spine wear and adds to the mess on your hones. most stuff from the 'bay needs love from 1k or coarser stone until you are getting nice clean metal then proceed with your normal honing progression. some from the 'bay are nice enough to start with a 4k or so but those are relatively rare.

enjoy,
jim

Keep breadknifing for bread my friend and try using the 'magic marker' test to see how the bevel sits on the hone, if that is your wont.
All the blades I have gotten off ebay have been stripped, buffed/sanded and polished then rescaled.
By the time all that gets done the bevel has to be reset anyway.
FWIW I always use tape to hone.
The choice is yours and there are many threads around here discussing the relative merits of using/not using tape.
Hang on and enjoy the ride

I was reading about setting a bevel and they say to start with a 600 grit stone, I don't have a 600. I have a 250/1000 Japanese stone and a 4k/8k Norton. Is the 250 too much to start with?

A 250grit is pretty agressive unless your doing major edge restoration and want to remove metal fast. You should be fine starting out with your 1K.

Since you're new to honing, I'd use tape regardless of whether or not the razor had been honed with tape before. Just change it out regularly so that it doesn't wear down too much.

I know this is off topic, but why does everyone call it bread knifing a razor? True bread knives are serrated and need to be sharp enough to cut a loaf of bread without squashing it. Wouldn't a more apt term be butter-knifing?

It's the motion you use to "bread knife" ... the motion is similar to cutting a loaf of bread with a bread knife.

Carl

Originally Posted by straightrazorheaven

It's the motion you use to "bread knife" ... the motion is similar to cutting a loaf of bread with a bread knife.

Carl

Ah... I get it; I'd never thought of that.