Thread: Just honed my first blade

Hey Gentlemen.

Thanks to your help I honed my first blade today after spending about 3.5 hours flatting my Norton stone.

The hone process was not as bad as I thought it was going to be and now I am a happy camper, It is so much more sharper now then it was before.. Since I ran out of hair on my arms.. (not to sure if that is a common problem here or not) I tested it on my leg and It was popping hairs as fast as I was moving the blade.. I am pretty proud of my self honestly that I was able to do this my self.

So thanks again guys!

- Adam

Congradulations on your first honed blade, as you continue on you will pick up more ways and better techniques to honing I am sure of that.

Congrats on the success. You now have a case of whats commonly referred to as "honers mange" on your arm and legs.

Learning to hone is certainly liberating isn't it lol!! It's kind of like having a smoke but no matches. You can bum a light but then the question is... do I chain smoke till I can find fire, or hope for the best lol.

Once you get that lighter it's almost as though you can enjoy your smokes again. Honing is the same way. Wondering if your blade is sharp enough or if you should send it out isn't the end of the world, but knowing you can take care of it is huge. Well it was for me anyway.

Congrats!

Congrats! I just started honing myself and have probably honed about 7 razors thus far. You really do get a sense of accomplishment when you're shaving with a razor you honed yourself.

What kind of setup are you using? I have a King 1k & Naniwa 1k for bevel-setting, a Norton 4/8k, and a Chinese 12k for finishing. I actually have a coticule on the way, and am going to delve into the world of natural stone honing pretty soon. I definitely have the beginning stages of HAD (Hone Acquisition Disorder)!!

You just jumped the biggest hurdle that shies alot of guys from taking this up. Be proud sir, you just took a big step to self reliance in this venture you're on. Overtime you will get better and better, and so will the shaves. A good lesson some of the guys here taught me when I started..."Knowing when to hone that edge is not hard...it's knowing when to stop that takes a good feel for your steel and what it's capable of, you'll only get that w/ practice." So a thanks shout out to , glen, jimmyhad, lynn, thebigspendur, bruno, charlie, and birnando. You guys gave me some good advice over the last months, and whether you remember or not, it stuck and helped immensely so thanks to all you guys!

You will really come to find the mentoring mentality here to be the most beneficial thing this site offers, so if you have more questions, and you will, just ask.

Originally Posted by jpcwon

Congrats! I just started honing myself and have probably honed about 7 razors thus far. You really do get a sense of accomplishment when you're shaving with a razor you honed yourself.

What kind of setup are you using? I have a King 1k & Naniwa 1k for bevel-setting, a Norton 4/8k, and a Chinese 12k for finishing. I actually have a coticule on the way, and am going to delve into the world of natural stone honing pretty soon. I definitely have the beginning stages of HAD (Hone Acquisition Disorder)!!

I am currently running just a Norton 4/8k ATM.

Not a thing wrong w/ that some guys here never buy more than that to hone w/. Once I started honing some razors I really enjoyed it, and bought more hones; some find it a chore or just something that has to be done and stay the minimalists approach. Whatever works for you is what is best.

Originally Posted by adamf85

I am currently running just a Norton 4/8k ATM.

Nothin' wrong with that! I honed a razor last night (Omor Solingen) on my Norton 4/8, and was able to get a kick-ass shave off of just that! So in actuality you don't need much more than that!!