Thread: first try at honing

Me personally when I do the arm hair test I use the back of my hand (hair grows back pretty quick). You have alot of nerve endings in your hand like your face does; so the sensitivity is closer than your forearm or leg or whatever you use. Chances are if the blade feels harsh on the back of your hand...it will on your face. Once I have the blade feeling pretty smooth off my 8k from the hand test I do five more laps, then move to the 12k rinse repeat, then 25 passes on crox, 50 on mesh or rough leather, 75 on smooth leather and shave. If it doesn't feel the way I want it, I go back to the 12k for 5 laps and back up the chain. Just my two cents. You will find what works for you, and gain a "feel" for your razors over time and practice. Just pay attention and use the numbers as a "guide" just to help keep track of where you are. Thus, why everyone says # - # and not this many and stop. Oh, and each razor you come across will act differently as well; so what works for one may not work for the other...that's where the "feel" comes to play.

An 800 or 1k or 1200 grit dmt stone does a much faster Jon than sitting on 4/8 grit stones

Originally Posted by tiddle

Me personally when I do the arm hair test I use the back of my hand (hair grows back pretty quick). You have alot of nerve endings in your hand like your face does; so the sensitivity is closer than your forearm or leg or whatever you use. Chances are if the blade feels harsh on the back of your hand...it will on your face. Once I have the blade feeling pretty smooth off my 8k from the hand test I do five more laps, then move to the 12k rinse repeat, then 25 passes on crox, 50 on mesh or rough leather, 75 on smooth leather and shave. If it doesn't feel the way I want it, I go back to the 12k for 5 laps and back up the chain. Just my two cents. You will find what works for you, and gain a "feel" for your razors over time and practice. Just pay attention and use the numbers as a "guide" just to help keep track of where you are. Thus, why everyone says # - # and not this many and stop. Oh, and each razor you come across will act differently as well; so what works for one may not work for the other...that's where the "feel" comes to play.

This is some good advice.

If you're not sure how far you can take your 8k yet you can keep honing until you don't notice any improvement. Just do 20 or 30 laps a night and then strop until it stops getting better. You don't NEED pastes yet, and honestly at this point they'd just be adding one more variable to an already difficult task.

Once you can do that, add some Crox and you'll likely see an immediate and beneficial improvement. If you use pastes too early, you can't really tell if your honing is improving or if the crox is just smoothing out an imperfect edge.

Just my 2 cents.

Let us know how it goes!

hone and shave test. If not up to par then give it another go, you will soon get to know what works for your face.