Thread: When to revert to 1K while honing?

Dear Fellow Members-Been trying to hone a nice EBay razor and having no luck doing the Pyramid from 4K to 8K with no tape and with tape. Should I try going down to 1K and try 20 strokes there? Never honed anything at 1K and thought that it was best reserved for butter knive edges. Still a newb!

If you have a 1K, use that to set the bevel. I do circle strokes with some pressure. Then I do circle strokes with no pressure. Then I finish with x strokes. Oh, and I don't even count my laps. Once the whole edge passes the TPT, then I move on to higher grits. Once you get the bevel set good, that makes the rest of the honing process much easier.

Have you set the bevel on the razor? I will only use my 1K to set bevels and then move to the pyramid.

Any eBay special I will set the bevel on a 1k before doing anything else.

As to how many laps that is really determined by your edge test. I use the TNT as my primer test and follow that by arm hair. I do the TNT probably ever 15-20 laps to see where the edge is at. Once I get a good TNT I will do 5 more laps and test on arm hair. After that I move to the pyramid on my water stones.

Allow me to recommend using a Sharpie Marker on your bevel to make sure it is a complete bevel. This is standard equipment at my sharpening bench.

Another good visual aid is a loupe or microscope but you need to know what you're looking for.

Before you frustrate yourself with honing, spend a few hours reading about bevel setting & re-read the Library section on honing.

I find the "Advanced Search" feature, above right, a valuable tool. Go to it, put in the "Key Word" section, words like bevel setting, honing with a 1k.

If I had to sharpen my butter knives, it would be on a Carborundum stone under 300, progress up, then I would finish her off on a 1000.

Dear Fellow Razorheads-Thank you all for the quick and detailed replies! Honestly, the only honing videos I have viewed only go down to 4K-I have YET to use my Norton 1K-it's virgin!
I do have a decent 30X loupe, but don't know what to look for other than a uniform smooth bevel with no jagged edges.Don't know how to use a Sharpie and would appreciate any additional information using a marker.
Skippy, I guess that the TNT determines when one moves past the 1K? Once past the 1K and at 4K, can one then peform pyramid honing? I understand that 15-20 strokes at 4K is a good # to initiate the Pyramid honing technique?
Take care all.Will keep you posted-Gearhead-PS-Just edited all of this information and printed it for reference

If the 1K is virgin, make sure it is lapped prior to use.
The Sharpie is applied to the edge to show you what you are hitting and missing.
Under a loupe (I prefer and need only 10X), look at the edge itself. When you can still see it, you haven't completed bevel-setting.
Plenty of information on the Pyramid technique is in the Library.

Thanx Ace! Lapped the edges, if that's what you mean