Thread: Having issues keeping Boker Edelweiss sharp

Check your blade for warping. I have a Boker which gave me very similar problems for some time until it dawned on me that the blade was warped (the evidence was there all along). Now that I've adjusted my honing technique for that blade, I get fantastic results.

Gentlemen, dear friends,
Aren't we about to lose the simple right path? Recently I spent a few days in a Italian village so small it will never reach a map. Barber. Busy shaving a client. I had a three day beard. Went for a good shave. The artisan was equipped with all the Bokers of the world. After this client I was seated. 30 laps. No further hanky panky. Result: smooth as a baby butt for the next two days.
Consider, it is not complicated at all. I only hone a new object. My current razors are just stropped. And that will do.

Originally Posted by Lesslemming

Backhoning is no sin, but theoretically it is an slightly inferior technique especially with lower grits. Gssixgun mentioned the paper of John D. Verhoeven, emeritus professor at Iowa state university (2004) that can be found here

But I feel I must say that the difference is highly theoretical, because if you suck at forward honing, whereas your hand is steady when backwardshoning,
the latter will give you better results. Try to do what feels best for you and master this technique.

And I feel I must say I disagree with the "If it feels good do it theory",, sorry but Backhoning at the lower grits ie: 8k as a finsh stroke is just not a good idea,,
Backhoning period is much more likely to create a frown , especially if as you say they suck at honing anyway... You might want to Read his post again...

Hi gs, i hope you understand my post was not against you or your recommendations. I merely wanted to encourage the op to find his own way of honing, ie what he is comfortable with. You made it clear that you have specific and as a compliment to your experience very good recommendations for beginners. But as a part of the learning experience that is honing and shaving it can be advantageous to see what others do, learn or make mistakes. But the most important thing is, I was pointing out that he did not damage his blade permanently just because of backhoning. It seemed he thought that way

Honestly That is not what I read,,,

I read "Do whatever feels good to ya it makes no real difference"

So let's chalk it up to ""Internet Language"" mis-interpetation because I have always thought very highly of your knowledge and that post made me do a Huh????

I can easily see why my original post could have been misread. In addition to the "internet language" -issue I am from Germany and english is not my native language.
Trust me, if we met in person you would not even understand a word I say

Vorsicht Leslemming! Beinahe alle Hollaender sprechen und/oder verstehen Deutsch.
(Watch out Leslemming! Almost all Dutchmen speak and/or understand German).

Watch out Leslemming! Almost all Dutchmen speak and/or understand German

Oh noes, die Holländer!!!




[Sorry for OT]

So anyway, I did 25 laps in clear water and stropped 50 laps on linen followed by 60 on leather. Very smooth and easy shave. The downward angled strip was very helpful. I let a little tension out of the strop too and that helped as well. So, I guess shave #2 is the big test though. Stay tuned!

I noticed you mentioned resetting the bevel. If you dont have access to magnification, you can check how the light reflects on the bevel. find where the bevel reflects light. then roll through it and look for a thin flash before and after the bevel lights up (or maybe even a 2 tone bevel if its only half set). Maybe some others here have some tricks to check the bevel w/o magnification. I remember seeing something about a felt tip pen check, but never did it myself. The bevel is the foundation for the edge, you wouldnt try to build a mansion on old crumbling cinderblocks.

I have never backhoned a straight, i have with other sharp objects. Its handy to help remove material twice as fast, changing the shape twice as fast. When done, deburr and do another round forward, then wander through the whole polish process. I dont see where backhoning would be useful with a straight unless you had a big chip and 4K was your lowest grit stone. Of course I am still learning all this myself. The only times I used backhoning involved removing sword chips from a khukri edge (about 1/4" deep) and to super reduce the convex edge on another sword (excessively excessive ji-niku to nice ha-niku) and removed some small chips in the process (1/16th to 1/32nd inches in depth). On either one I probably removed as much metal as a full hollow straight razor - tang.

edit: I forgot to note, the backhone I did was part of forward honing. kind of like a see-saw with the blade back and forth. Never have tried to just backhone on its own.