Thread: Heel to Toe

Ok, I was posting on another thread which made me think of this experience I had awhile back. I made my first straight razor purchase at AOS. I did not know or ever hear of the concept-shave ready. A friend on facebook liked AOS so I watched one of the videos which inspired me to think about using a straight. Btw, talk about a guy rolling the edge while stropping. The Brotherhood of Shaving - The Art of Shaving Anyway, on a trip to DC I spent a bunch of money on shaving supplies, including a DOVO. My first experience was terrible. The shave left me with a bloody stump of a face. Anyway, on to the honing part. Well, I found this forum. Thank you all. I also went to an old school barber who touched up the DOVO. He did not set the bevel or anything but did a few passes on, I am guessing, a barber's hone. But what was interesting was how he was doing the passes. He placed the razor with the spine facing the long end of the hone. So the spine was parallel along the length of the hone. He made semi-circular motions-going from 'heel to toe' for the passes. So he was not using the classic X pattern. Anyone seen it done like that? Or is that the way folks use barber's hones. Thanks for your consideration.

The blade needs to have a proper bevel set. Normally a Barber hone is used to refresh a dulling blade. When you feel whiskers pulling during the shave, give the blade a few X passes on the Barber hone, then strop on leather. Glen has a tutorial video that will help. Barber hones can be aggressive on edges so care must be taken not to over do it.
MIke

Originally Posted by MODINE

...give the blade a few X passes on the Barber hone...

Mike, thanks for the input but I do not think I explained myself well. I was seeing if anyone uses a semi-circular pattern on a barber's hone rather than the classic x pattern. I remember that the barber was doing something different then what i saw in videos or have read on SRP. I was sort of surprised at his approach. The razor was placed on the long side of the hone with the spine close to the long edge of the hone. The edge of the razor was facing the opposite long edge of the hone. The scales were moved out of the way. His pass looked similar to how a windshield wiper appears while operating. So the toe would face, for example, the left end of the hone. At the end the toe would be facing the right side of the hone. Anyway, still not sure if I am explaining myself well. But I am tired and it is getting late. Maybe I will get a barber's hone one day and try it. But wanted to see if anyone had seen it done like that. Thanks.

Sounds like a swooping x stroke. Look here Strokes for honing a razor - Straight Razor Place Wiki

Originally Posted by JSmith1983

Sounds like a swooping x stroke...

Yup, that seems to be the one most similar to what he was doing.