Thread: Honing Basics (Honing for Dummies)

Although the help files are chock full of honing advice I thought I'd share some thoughts and get some input from others.

1. Take the time to learn what you can learn about assessing the edge BEFORE you start honing. You need to know how "unsharp" a razor is to figure out how many strokes and on what grit you should be honing on. (I am using the word unsharp for a reason, dull is just dull, you need to know how far away you are from sharp). Do this throughout the process, not just in the beginning.

1a. Thumb nail test, thumb pad test, shaving, HHT, microscopes are the techniques I use.

2. Objectives: Straighten the edge (it should have no nicks), create a bevel that is as sharp as possible, smooth out the bevels and the teeth at the edge as much as possible.

3. Technique: Razor flat, heel leading or X pattern (I use both at the same time), equal pressure on each side, each stroke the same angle and length as the opposing side, lessen pressure as you go. Light strokes will attack the bevel all the way to the edge better that pressured strokes, but adding some pressure will remove more metal (both of which have thier time and place). Use quality strokes, go slow. The best part of honing is that it lets you slow the world down alittle. Or, if you try and apply your fast world to honing, you'll screw it up.

4. Know your hone. They have different cutting levels and various speeds. You can hone a razor on almost any flat, high grit stone. It just may take a while. A Norton 4/8 is a bracket approach, all the cutting power you need (if your patient), and more smoothing power then you'll ever need, all in one hone). A barber hone provides good, varied speed (depending on the hone) finishing. It can replace the 8K side of a Norton or be used as a stepping stone to the 8K. A 4K hone is fast and cuts away lots of metal, consider using just 1/2 the stone as a cheap way to slow down the cutting to match your skill level. Think like an inexperienced diamond cutter . . .

4a. A bracket approach makes the most sense. Cut away metal then smooth it out. But you must learn how much metal to cut away and how to smooth out the bevel after its been cut. Another way of saying this is proportion. Don't cut all day and try to smooth with 1 stroke on 8K, it won't work. Conversly, don't be afraid to cut away metal, but have some thought of when to stop. I find that once the bevel is sharp, no LESS than 20 strokes on 8K will smooth the edge out to my liking. Try this approach with each grit: "What can I accomplish with this grit?" Can you almost pass the HHT with 4K only? That would be pretty cool. Can you get close? Imagine now what happens with the 8K ..... can I cut a dropped hair? Can I pass the HHT without a popping sound. Does it feel sharper on my wetted thumb (literally, you do know what sharp feels like, trust me, it takes practice but its very possible). And finally, with the strop . . . How smooth a shave can I get? Pyramiding is a good, blind, approach to the same idea. 1 x 4k, then 5 x 8k strokes, test. Towards the end though consider 5 more 8k strokes and maybe even 5 more after that and test shave again before dropping back down to 4K.

4b. Don't cut too much, its better to try 8K and smooth for a while and return to the 4K then to go to town on 4k and try to smooth out a torn up overhoned edge.

5. The best shaves occur after repeated shaves and stropping. Again, its a process of achieving the most you can from each step. Its the only way your going to know your headed in the right direction. You can't succeed by using one stroke on 4K, one stroke on 8k, stropping one pass, lathering up and then test shaving a cheek. You've got to push the 4K into smooth cutting, polish with 8K, align and smooth with stropping, then shave. Each level 4k, 8k, and even the strop, have more power than you may realize to improve sharpness through either technique, lessening (or in the case of a strop, increasing) pressure and strokes. Each needs its time and your experience to achieve the most from them. While your developing your experience, give the grits and strop their time. In other words, don't constantly give up on the 8k after 5 strokes. Although its a finishing stone, it is removing metal, slowly. At the same time it is creating a smooth edge, smooth enough to shave on. That makes it an unrespected workhorse in the process.

Follow a process and experiment as you go. Use tests for sharpness during your process. It takes patience to get some razors, but you've got to test them. Sometimes one bevel is honed too much over the other, sometimes you've cut too much metal, sometimes your not getting the razor flat....etc.
A little experimenting may be needed to get you over a hump. Sticking to the basics though, that hump is usually just you practicing the right stroke and being patient.

Great post Alan! This will certainly give me some more food for thought. Gearing up for a big honing weekend, so we'll see what I can apply. Thanks!


Jordan

Alan,

Excellent post!

Can you explain what "bracket approach" means?

Thanks

Good stuff. I am not very good at honing (I believe), and I'll be reviewing this post for my next honing session.

Bracket= Using both a very low grit (high speed) hone to attack the steel and a very high grit (slow) hone to polish. We "bracket" the razor between the two. We use the 4K to finese the blade sharper and sharper until the 8K can take the lead and smooth the bevel and make it sharper. We catch the dull razors with the low end of the bracket with the 4K and achieve the higher ends sharpness by using the 8k. The antithesis would be simply to hone with a single grit, like 6k or 7k, this produces a nice edge too.

Very excellent information.