Thread: 5 Years and still struggling

You said the magic words. The more hones and equipment you get the worse you are becoming.

The first day on the job my boss pointed out a seasoned veteran. He said that guy has been working here for 40 years and each day he struggles to do his job the same as he did on day one.

You need to get the basics down. Using more equipment will actually make things worse as will changing technique. You need to use a basic hone set and a basic routine and stick with it until you get it right every time (assuming of course a good razor). Once you are able to get it right then you can move on with hones and techniques. A lot of this is like learning math. One thing builds upon the other and if you never got the fundamentals right you just keep falling more behind as you get into more advanced math.

When I started i watched some videos on honeing ad learned a lot, but something someone said sounded silly at first but I think he had a motive ...He said,"If you have trouble jut put it down and give the razor a rest...especially when changing gits"
Well what you are really doing is giving the hone operator a rest...After A day sometimes it starts coming together.
Stingray

Thank you all for your advice. I got home from work this afternoon, read your posts, watched the video, made notes and went to work. I honed my TI and Hart to as good as they have ever been and they shaved quite nicely. (The TI I have has been a handful for the 5 years I've had it; the blade does not lay perfectly flat when edge and spine are laid on a flat surface.) Tonight's method:
Lapped 1k, 5k, 8k and 12k lightly
1 Layer tape
X strokes on 1k till mowing hairs
Change tape
10-15 passes on the 5 k till popping hairs and looking good in the loupe
10-15 passes on the 8k
Change tape
10-15 passes on the 8k with most of the water wiped off
10-15 passes on the 12k
Strop and shave!

This is not very extraordinary, I know, but it was different for me because I attempted to take all your good advice and use it in one session. In the past I have used bits and pieces of your advice, as gleaned from posts and videos, but had to make several attempts because it wasn't all put together. The things that helped me the most tonight:
-Fewer strokes and more inspections with the loupe.
-Did away with the circles. I only tried those the past couple of times, and I just can't manage to control the blade as well when I do them.
-Slower speed. Too often in a hurry to get my dull razor shaving.
-The slower speed allowed better pressure control, especially on my cupped razor.
-Made sure the razor was popping hairs off the 1k before moving on. This took a couple of sets of passes and inspections
-Used less water on the stone. The razor seemed to float less, stick better, and I could see the beads of water rolling better, like someone advised watching in an above post.

Thanks again for your help and encouragement!
Justin

Justin,

This sounds like a good thing!

Personally I find honing in general ‘relaxing and fulfilling’! For myself, if I’m tired, frustrated or generally not in the correct frame of mind to hone, I don’t do it! I have other razors that I can use!!!

If I’m not in the mood to enjoy the honing, as I said, I just say f’ it I’ll get to it later!!!

Pick your battles! Know when to retreat and re-group!! You will conquer and overcome!!

In a long process with several stages, it can be useful to know what exactly is going on at each stage. Plenty of folks have had reasonable success with running through the whole thing and hoping it works, but my feeling is that it is far better to know what you've just done before you move to the next step. You can botch an edge at nearly any step, and for most people who have otherwise decent or consistent technique, the degradation of the edge likely happens in the same places.

Have you ever been with someone that knew how to hone and done it in front of you? When I started honing I did ok but the turning point, for me, was actually seeing and hearing someone hone a razor. There is nothing like it. If you can search out someone and spend an afternoon with him. You will learn more than you can believe. Just remember though that you are going to adapt what you see to your style and feel. Everyone is a little different but you will learn what to look for when honing. I have never found a razor that has been honed by someone else that I have been able to "hone over". I have always had to drop back and start over at the bevel to get a razor to behave. Honing can be a very personal thing but the basics are the foundation on which you build the house.

Take care,
Richard