Almost, not quite. Honing service in LA?

[aleximus]

I am a newbie, but totally committed. I have a Friodur, which I've been trying to get a good edge on for a while. I have watched countless videos, and feel my technique should get the job done. I have 4 Arkansas stones, 400, 800, 1200, and a translucent they tell me is equivalent to 1400. It seems I can get it close but can't get that 'hanging hair' test to work.

Is there a good honing service in LA, or is there anyone out there close by who can either look at my process or let me watch them hone their razor?

[thewatermark]

I've heard mixed reviews about Ross cutlery ,but I don't mind helping u out, I'm out in Arcadia /Pasadena area just drop me a pm

[Str8Shooter]

1400 is no where near high enough for a razor to hone. Consider that my lowest hone is 1K and I top off on a 16K shapton and CrOx on balsa. I will hone it for you if needed.
Paul

[aleximus]

I am no expert on this of course but, as these are natural Arkansas stones, it's hard to equate th egret of these with the Chinese stones, or synthetics. From what I've heard however,I believe the 400 equates to a 3-4000k asian. The 800 to 7-8000. The 1200 to 10-12000, and 1400 to 14000. These are just general relationships as it is always dependent on the stones of course. As they are natural they can only be somewhat loosely defined, but trust me these stones are hard and fine. They also are new and maybe need a breaking in? I don't see why they would need lapping. They are flat and smooth.
Thoughts?

http://straightrazorpalace.com/hones...od-razors.html

[Castel33]

Your arks should be good. I use a soft white followed by a hard white followed by a surgical black with out issue. Even though you stones are new they may need to be lapped. You can try just breaking them in with out lapping but it might not get everything out of your stones. As to breaking them in this thread http://straightrazorpalace.com/hones...sas-hones.html a couple post in has a very good method.

[mjsorkin]

There is plenty of posts on using arks to hone with. There are also plenty more on the hanging hair test. No doubt you have read them all. But I don't think that's what you need to focus on.

You may wan't to just focus on the basics of honing. Develop a good consistent honing stroke, and learn some basic tests. Hone your razor on your stone, and use your tests to see what you are doing to your edge. Thumb pad, and magic marker, and the "look" tests are the most important IMO. Then the "real most important" test is the shave test, of course.

If I were you I would get in touch with the above member who offered you a meet up. That's as good as gold, and will really give you a boost.

Michael

[Str8Shooter]

All I can say is good luck to ya. My "stable" of razors is is fairly substantial and I can tell you what works. This somewhat falls into the realm of "gold dollar's are good razors". If you look at what works for the vast majority here that have been at this for a long time... there may be a reason why they (myself included) don't use them. My progresson is norton 1K/4K/8K followed by naniwa 12K, shapton 16K, then CroOx on balsa. It is proven to work consistantly on mine and everyone else's that I have honed.
Not sure where this difference in grit you spoke of is from but It is new to me.
Again good luck and let us know if your system works out for ya.

Paul

[Theseus]

Having honed more than a few razors from bevel set through finishing on Arkie's, I can tell you they do a really good job. That said, I would guess that you are facing at least three major problems with your stones. First the stones must be lapped. Just because they look flat it doesn't mean they're flat. Secondly they need to be prepped. You've already been linked to a thread with a good explanation of how to prep your translucent for that final polish. And thirdly, you are probably not spending nearly enough time on each stone. Arkies are notoriously slow and can take a lot of time and patience to hone on them. I also wanted to add that Arkansas hones should never be thought of with grit ratings. They are classified by specific gravity.

[aleximus]

ALL good stuff here. I want to say that I'm talking to those that offered to help out, and it's great that there's this kind of community out there! Very cool! All of this makes sense, and I will take it all into consideration. I will look into prepping and possibly lapping my stones. I don't think the stones themselves are the problem, but they may need this prep work. I don't discount that at all. And I'm not intimidated by the extra time needed. I have slowed down at this point in my life and spending time honing is more Zen time for me! The explanation of grit with the stones was to just hopefully explain to Str8shooter that these were quality stones and a full progression, as Castel and Theseus point out. So I am not interested in getting a new stone rotation, but figuring out how to make these work for me. I am not discouraged in the least. I'm actually glad that this is not 'easy'. If it was I doubt that there would be even a forum on this. I'm looking forward to mastering the process and am grateful for all the support and help that I've found here.

[aleximus]

BTW Str8shooter, that quote sounds like it could have been lifted from 'The Fellowship of the Rings' when Frodo and the Hobbits were at the Prancing Pony and the Dark Riders came to separate their heads from their bodies.

But probably not