Thread: Honing Advice Needed, Please.

Hi Guys,

I've been honing for a while and I'm getting good results overall (on a coticule and sometimes a 1K to start) but often the last inch towards the tip of the razor is not as sharp as the rest of the blade - this has happened on a few razors.

The bevel looks the same along the length though.

I've been advised to keep my elbow raised higher when honing and I have been concentrating on doing this recently but if anyone has any other advice, it would be greatly appreciated.

Best wishes

Dave

A few things can help, I think:

1. Magic marker - it can show you what is going on with your stroke by the way the marker wears off;

2: Watch the wave - keep an eye on the water in front of the edge as you hone;

3: Angle the blade - try changing the angle which you hold the razor on the stone. Anywhere between 45 (heel forward) and 90 degrees works, and in my experience nearer 45 degrees is optimal (for me);

4. Try two hands if you are not a two handed honer, at least to establish the bevel. The second hand provides a little pressure and a lot of guidance and control at the tip end. The idea of a light touch is fine but not all that important at the bevel set stage I have found - what is more important is *consistent* pressure along the entire edge. Sometimes two hands can help with that.

5. Try X strokes if you don't already. There really is no necessity to keep the entire edge on the hone the entire time.

6. Develop a rolling (or rocking, or whatever) X stroke - it is very useful not only for certain types of geometries but for building a smiling edge over time (if you like smilers). It is also a foolproof method of ensuring you hit every part of the edge evenly and consistently;

7. Combinations of all of the above: My favourite honing stroke at lower grits is a two-handed rolling X at 45 degrees. Since I worked on it and developed a consistent motion, I have never had any issue with less sharp areas of the edge.

Good luck!

James.

Fantastic advice Jimbo. For me, concentrating on #2 watching the 'wave' and honing heel forward are the two aspects that seemed to help me the most. Magic marker will tell if you are hitting everything. But all the points Jimbo made were valid.

Wow thanks Jimbo and Joe.

I have some Engineers Blue that is used for lapping - presumably this will do the same job as Magic Marker?

Originally Posted by JoeSomebody

For me, concentrating on #2 watching the 'wave' and honing heel forward are the two aspects that seemed to help me the most.

For me too, #2, watching the wave, because if I don't, the bevel tends to turn to #2


OMG that was sooooooo bad, but I just had to go there

Dave,

There is a video tutorial by HiBudGL (Sham) on this very subject here :

straight razor honing stroke - YouTube

Have fun !

Best regards

Russ

Originally Posted by JoeSomebody

Fantastic advice Jimbo. For me, concentrating on #2 watching the 'wave' and honing heel forward are the two aspects that seemed to help me the most. Magic marker will tell if you are hitting everything. But all the points Jimbo made were valid.

+1 on the Watching the Wave. Today when I honed five razors I found the back stroke (towards me) wave was uneven. I played with the idea of doing all 'away from me strokes' by flipping the whole razor, i.e. scales to the right, scales to the left. Is that a valid honing stroke???

When you hold the stone in your hand and you hone make sure your elbow is hiked up HIGH.
Low elbow is common with new honers and cause uneven strokes towards the tip of the razor.