Thread: overhoning

how do i fix my over honed razor?

Originally Posted by deejaykamoe

how do i fix my over honed razor?

The first step to fix it is to choose right place for your question.
There is another forum Honing for such a questions.

First issue fixed moved to honing

Second issue Why do you think it is overhoned ???

You were the guy using the unknown Japanese hones right ???

yes but i looked them up to find they are actually chinese stones..

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/221191551451?...84.m1497.l2649

they work well on my japanese knives. i believe they are overhoned becuase i sharpened my knife and it was catching my hanging hair, then i tried to get it sharper and it stopped and was dull.

ps i do plan on buyin a 4000/8000 norton but my source is sold out presently.

Frankly if you haven't calibrated your hair to the HHT it is more confusing than useful. My hair will pass at 1k to 6k but as the edge smooths the tests goes worse. To calibrate the HHT with the hair that is available to you, get a fresh DE blade or shave ready straight. Use the various hair to do the HHT and compare the results. The best use of the HHT is to judge how various sections of the edge is progressing not if it is shave ready. OR as a parlor trick.

HHT - Hanging Hair Test
Hanging Hair Test, from trick to probing method

There's a lot to learn but you can learn it all. Enjoy the learning curves.

Jonathan

Well the first thing is to actually determine what the issue is, if indeed there is one. Overhoning has quite a specific meaning for us - basically the edge has been honed to such a point that it has become too fragile and a very thin strip of it will break off or bend: a wire edge is another word we might use.

So that is what overhoning is: now to decide whether you have done it. Those Chinese natural 12K stones are, number one, very slow cutters (from what I've heard) and, number two, of a reasonably high grit. These two things in combination suggest to me that in fact it is highly unlikely you would have overhoned using this stone. Overhoning is most commonly and easily done on lower grit stones.

It is not an uncommon thing to have a coarse edge "catch" on a hair, and then as that edge becomes more refined it ceases to "catch". You need to be very careful about how you judge these things, because misjudging the cause can lead you to incorrect remedial measures which of course can lead you into strife.

Unfortunately we don't really have enough information to help you with specifics - there are many "what ifs". For example, if your razor was shave ready, and if you are just trying to touch up the edge on your stone, then I would suggest giving it a few more laps and then seeing how it shaves. If on the other hand you are trying to do something more "remedial", I would suggest saving your time until you get that Norton 4/8.

If it is at all possible I would suggest trying to find someone local to you who can provide a little mentoring. Failing that, perhaps watching some of the honing videos by Lynn or gssixgun on youtube might help.

Good luck.

James.

I think 'overhoning' is often a way to describe when honing goes wrong, such as too much pressure, bad strokes, lousy technique, etc. That part I can understand because I've done all of it. But 'overhoning' in terms of honing for too long on a lower grit doesn't seem to me to make sense.

For example, if someone is honing at 1K and goes on too long with it, past the point of establishing a bevel, that is too much honing, but I don't think it qualifies as 'overhoning' in terms of making the resulting edge more fragile. Here's why: If you are honing at an established angle, with or without tape, the relationship between the edge and the spine or taped spine stays the same. Continuing to hone past the point where you could properly stop does remove more steel than necessary, but the edge is not made more fragile by doing so. This is because the angles of the bevel resulting in the edge are pre-determined by the spine/edge relationship, and that doesn't change as a result of honing too much.

In fact, the opposite seems to be the case. As one removes steel, and if one does it repeatedly, the angles formed by the bevels will actually increase, not decrease, because the edge is being brought closer to the spine, and the steel is thicker as one approaches the spine. So too much honing might wear away steel, but it won't make the bevel sides meet in a more acute angle, but in fact a less acute one. If that is the case, then the edge itself will be more robust, not weaker.

I'm not a fan of honing more than is necessary, but I don't think doing so results in a weaker edge.

I think it is possible to 'overhone', in a way, at higher grits, but only because of the nature of certain steels. I've had edges that did not do well after progressing through 16K to 30K because they could not hold such a fine edge. When I stopped my honing with these edges at 12K, they seemed more robust and less weak. I think that this variety of 'overhoning' is a special case and not what most people use the term to describe.

I think in order for you to get a more defined answer as to where your honing has gone astray, you should start by giving a run down of what you've done. What was your razor edge like to start, why you started honing it, and what did you do on the hone. circles, x strokes, with pressure with no pressure...