Thread: help i m trying the first hone ! pearlex dovo

I'd second the recommendation to get a 4K stone to work on, and to have your nice new razor honed by someone who knows how to do it right.

If you're anything like me, your first attempts at honing will make things worse rather than better. It takes a little time to develop the skill you need to do a good job.

If you'll be honing eBay razors, you may want to consider getting either a 1000-grit stone or some good quality 1000-grit wet-dry sandpaper. If the razor is really dull it can take a while to get a bevel started on the Norton 4000.

Josh

I also use the 1000 grit sandpaper on a regular basis. Norton 4k is the fastest cutting 4k hone that I know of, but the sandpaper will still save you a lot of time.

The yellow belgian can hone your razor but it will take a long time. Hoekmanx has done this.
You can use either a blue blegian as a 4000 grit hone or a Norton 4000. The Norton 4000 is faster.

Have you shaved with the razor? I would suggest that you try to shave with it first, just your cheeks. Then hone for 60 laps on the yellow Belgian coticule. Then shave again. Notice the difference/change. Then hone for 50 more laps. Then shave again. Now hone for 40 laps and shave again. etc.

Let us know what happens,

Originally Posted by randydance062449

The yellow belgian can hone your razor but it will take a long time. Hoekmanx has done this.

He's a bit of a martyr, though.

hello randy !! many thanks...i have only belgian hone (yellow) and i don t want to spend 70 usd to buy a norton!!...the time is not a problem for me...if the results is the same..

i have tried the razor ....is it not ready to shave after 40 laps on coticule! ...my merkur blade on shavette is far superior (and this is not possibile i think!)

I never got a blade shave-ready after 40 laps on ANY stone and that includes one factory-honed Filarmonica (to the point of cutting SOME arm hairs but with no authority) and a partially honed Eskiltuna. Here's how I would go about it if I were you...
The honing:
1) Do about 50 trips on the coticule (it cuts slowly so chances are you won't overhone the blade)
2) Move the blade over the arm hair, without touching the skin. If it effortlessly cuts the hair, with every part of the blade (heel, middle and toe), do a shave test. If not, do another 10 trips on the coticule and try the arm-hair test again.
Note: As people have different thickness of arm hair, the best way to determine if you should stop honing is that additional honing doesn't improve the way the blade cuts the arm hair.

The shave test:
1) 15 trips on the linen
2) 35 on the leather
3) If you get a smooth and comfortable shave, with no pulling and tugging (especially when going with the grain), you're done.
4) If not, do another 10 trips on the coticule and do another shave test the following day.

shaving and razor in hollad ..told me that after 50 passes on the coticule ..i have probably damaged the blade!


bah!

and one friend told me that 10 passes on the coticule are too much....

finally the razor don t cut!

The coticule is a slow cutter so chances are you didn't overhone it, but you may have rolled the edge. Just in case, do a few back strokes and try again, slowly, keeping the blade flat on the hone. Don't lift the edge or the spine.

Don't know where the opinions are coming from that Belgians are slow honers or that you can't hone with one and want to buy a Norton 4k/8k. so here's my opinion. The belgian coticule is superb for keeping your razor sharp. If your razor is dull, use the blue belgian, then the coticule, then strop with natural leather. If you want to buy a Norton 4k/8k, they are on theperfectedge.com, happy to sell you one. Seriously though, my suggestion is to experiment and find out for yourself.

Magnification of your new Dovo's edge will tell you a lot about the factory edge. Look especially at the toe and the heel of the blade. You may find some surprises! Most problems people have with honing are fixed when they look to see what they're starting out with as an edge (under magnification), check again after a few strokes, and then again at the end.

You will hear lots of opinions and sage advice on this forum. My suggestion is to practice, practice, practice and use magnification. Then you will know what works for you, your particular steel, your stones, and your style.

Howard

Originally Posted by danzyc

hello randy !! many thanks...i have only belgian hone (yellow) and i don t want to spend 70 usd to buy a norton!!...the time is not a problem for me...if the results is the same..

i have tried the razor ....is it not ready to shave after 40 laps on coticule! ...my merkur blade on shavette is far superior (and this is not possibile i think!)

I realize that you only have the yellow Belgian hone and you do not want to buy more hones. I was trying to suggest an approach that would eventually get your razor shaving sharp.
It is a slow method but it should work.

Use 1-2 pounds of pressure for the first 10 laps then the remaining laps should be performed using only the amount of pressure necessary to keep the razor flat on the hone.

As has been suggested use the arm hair test to see if the razor is ready for a shave test.


Hope this helps,