Thread: When do i change grits?

hi i am new to the world of honing ,What tells you guys when to change up grits ?what tells you you cant go any further with say an 8k and need to turn to a 10k then say 12 k to polish?

I am of the camp that an 8K stone is a finishing stone and therefore the edge should be shave ready off of the 8K prior to moving to a higher grit stone. When you go to the next grit stone, start with a small # of x strokes (say 5) and then look at how light reflects off of the edge. What you are looking for are any irregular spots of reflection (this isn't a true test having anything to do with the quality of the shave, only shaving with it will tell you that, but it is a good indicator of the level of polish being done). Continue with a minimal # of strokes until the polish is uniform and the blade edge feels uniform and smooth when you are doing your x strokes.
The above will help a little, but IMHO, the best way to go about this is to shave after the 8K and make sure the edge is ready. Go ahead and move to the next grit stone and hone until the polish is uniform then shave with it the next day to see if you are satisfied. Try doing a few more strokes on the same grit hone and then shave with it the next day and see if it is better or worse, etc. Move to the next stone, hone, shave, etc. Keep notes along the way. This method will teach you what is happening along each step of the way. Magnification is helpful during this process also, so you can put an image with what it felt like to shave with an edge that looked like the image. I hope this helps.
Regards
Glenn

Ditto to the light test. If you see a dull spot do about 5 more laps to see if that evens it out. Could be you had not removed the lower grit scratches completely yet, if you feel a spot rougher than the others you may have to "push" that part in, lay your finger on the spine right above that spot, use only the weight of your finger, do a few laps, check, repeat if necessary on both sides; what you do to one you do to the other as well, then do a few more normal laps to even things up again and check...lot of checking I know. Watch for the water to ride along the edge evenly as well, if all these look good, check to see if it pops arm hair above skin level on the 8k, if it does it's a safe bet you can move on or strop and test shave, then go to higher grits, paste, sprays, or leave it be.

Originally Posted by tyke121

hi i am new to the world of honing ,What tells you guys when to change up grits ?what tells you you cant go any further with say an 8k and need to turn to a 10k then say 12 k to polish?

Trying to remember who said this first on SRP "I can hone just fine, I just have to figure out when to stop"

You have some good advice above but they are only clues to the mystery, the only real answer is Practice and Experience..

Certain hones give pretty clear indicators, Shaptons for instance are one of the best about telling you it is time to switch, you can feel when they are done..
The Sharp Tests are good TNT TPT AHT and HHT but you have to learn how to read them with your body, hair, nails, and thumb pads, are just not all the same..
Even the shave test changes as you progress in this hobby

You have to almost think like a CSI you develop little clues that you begin to rely on to give you the correct indications of where the edge is at..

What does all that BS mean ???? Practice and Experience

I stop at 8K simply because that's the highest stone I have. But in all honesty, I'm not an extremely experienced honer but I'll switch from 1K to 4K after I can see a uniform bevel reflecting light evenly, grabs my thumb nail across the whole edge, and cuts hair on my arm or leg. Then I'll switch from 4K to 8K after I can see the bevel still reflecting light uniformly and no more 1K marks. Occasionally I'll have to drop back down to the 1K, just depends whats going on, or I'll work the 4K for a little while longer (sometimes check to see that it still shaves hair along all portions of the blade, 3-4 spots). Then I'll do the 8K until I can no longer see 4K marks on the bevel. Strop her up and give it a test shave.

The first 5 or so razors I tried to hone were less than stellar shaves. But it wasn't that it was an uncomfortable shave either. I actually bought a razor from an antique store for $15 to work on honing and to practice. After my first attempt it was an extremely tugging shave, but not painful or extremely uncomfortable.. Just not nearly as smooth as my Dovo sharpened by the masters. Now it is one of my favorite shavers! After I got better at honing of course. When I touch up a razor I don't always do any confirmatory tests, I just do it til I think its right.

It wasn't until I honed about 10 or so razors (mine and my dads) that I really noticed a big difference in the improved touch. The biggest thing that helped me was that I tried the 8K stone with ZERO pressure and it made a world of difference for me. Before I wasn't using a whole lot of pressure (at least I didn't think so), but I digress. You might already use zero pressure when working the higher grit stones, but it made a huge difference for me. As well as getting a feel for how to manipulate different razors. Ex. straight edge, slight smile, full hollow, half hollow, near wedge, etc.. To me they are all just a little different when honing. Smiles are the ones I'm still having a little trouble with.

I'm still a novice when it comes to honing but you'll get better with some practice!!