Thread: My first "real" attempt at honing- let the criticism fly!

Wow. And I still only use my tongue to check the grit of the next hone to use!

A picture is worth a thousand words, but a shave holds the answers.

Those are some nice photos. It looks like there are some deep scratches remaining from coarser steps....it appears that the 3000 grit hone was used a little too heavily, and the next steps were not employed adequately to remove those scratches.

Originally Posted by unit

A picture is worth a thousand words, but a shave holds the answers.

Those are some nice photos. It looks like there are some deep scratches remaining from coarser steps....it appears that the 3000 grit hone was used a little too heavily, and the next steps were not employed adequately to remove those scratches.

the scratches do not mean anything for the shave really, there will always be some left no matter what.
those pics show one angle of the bevel, turn it around and there will be other scratches visible. Shave test is what matters ultimately.

Originally Posted by mainaman

the scratches do not mean anything for the shave really, there will always be some left no matter what.
those pics show one angle of the bevel, turn it around and there will be other scratches visible. Shave test is what matters ultimately.

I agree...but photos are almost the only thing I have to go on here, and polishing (for knives) is something I know a little bit about.

No doubt that a blind shave test is all that really matters. I have some fairly ugly edges that shave quite well

Originally Posted by unit

I agree...but photos are almost the only thing I have to go on here, and polishing (for knives) is something I know a little bit about.

No doubt that a blind shave test is all that really matters. I have some fairly ugly edges that shave quite well

knives and razors are two very different animals, you can polish the knife bevel to perfect mirror and that will not affect the cutting performance. For razor it can be done as well , but it will take time and also might compromise the edge.

As I mentioned above the razor has to be sent for evaluation or the OP needs to get a pro honed razor for comparison.

Originally Posted by mainaman

knives and razors are two very different animals, you can polish the knife bevel to perfect mirror and that will not affect the cutting performance. For razor it can be done as well , but it will take time and also might compromise the edge.

As I mentioned above the razor has to be sent for evaluation or the OP needs to get a pro honed razor for comparison.

No arguments from me on any of that. Except that in some cases polishing a knife will absolutely affect cutting performance (this is something I have quantified and analyzed in depth for competition cutting purposes).

I have proven also that employing very keen knife honing skills to a straight razor, will often result in exceptionally harsh shaves

Originally Posted by unit

No arguments from me on any of that. Except that in some cases polishing a knife will absolutely affect cutting performance (this is something I have quantified and analyzed in depth for competition cutting purposes).

I have proven also that employing very keen knife honing skills to a straight razor, will often result in exceptionally harsh shaves

I agree.
When I said polishing knife I did not mean going to the highest grits , toothier edges cut better than the super polished ones, unlike the case of straight razors. Frankly for me the best polishes come from JNats, the bevels look super and the toothiness is still there.