Thread: How sharp do you like it?

69 responses and almost 900 views...under 12 hours...what have I done here

Well, it's actually become an interesting thread, so I'll throw my opinion in while we're hot.

Learning to hone isn't hard, but it isn't easy either. It takes time, patience and practice. As the German philosopher, Ludwig Wittgenstein, said, there are some things that cannot be said, they can only be shown. (And, yes, I'm being serious here.)

Honing is like that. I read everything in the Library before I started to try to hone, and I watched all the videos. But until I visited AFDavisII, who so kindly invited me into his home to explain honing to me, I was flying blind. I was making some progress, but I was full of questions, had doubts about the various tests, didn't know how to tell a shave ready edge from one that needed more work and didn't have any idea about what that additional 'work' might be. I learned more in two hours of him 'showing' me how he honed and stropped than I have probably learned since. That is why the forum encourages mentoring, getting together with someone who knows how it is done and seeing it happen.

Without that, honing can still be learned, but the questions about what grits, how many passes, when to move from stone to stone are difficult, if not impossible, to give good answers to because of the variations in razors, honing techniques and general levels of understanding of what is going on and what to do about it. It is very difficult to be helpful with any real accuracy without being there with a learning honer and seeing what he is doing. Is he using both hands, using too much pressure, is his honing stroke wrong in some way that cannot be communicated in text?

I don't use Lynn's Pyramid technique anymore, but it was helpful to me at first because I really had nothing else to go on.

So the best advice I can come up with is to meet with someone, if you can, who knows how to hone. Failing that possibility, I would point out that the Library, if read and studied, will point new honers in the right direction. Practice and patience and not expecting too much too soon will complete the journey. Getting good at honing is really a matter of making all the mistakes I've made, learning from them and moving on to higher quality honing by avoiding those mistakes in the future. I was able to produce a shave ready blade in a month, with kind assistance from AFDavisII. I don't know where I'd be if I hadn't gotten that help. I would have learned because I had dedicated myself to doing it and putting in the time to get it done. It just takes study, practice, patience and time.

Originally Posted by LikesBBS

69 responses and almost 900 views...under 12 hours...what have I done here

I'd say you hit a nerve...;-)

Originally Posted by ace

I've got the honing part figured out, but what is the best grit for breadknifing?

It is a manmade with natural binders, please alow the binders to fully cure.

Originally Posted by pfries

It is a manmade with natural binders, please alow the binders to fully cure.

here look at this one:

^^^^ I forgot about that one another very proper method^^^^

If you use milk it's always easy to find your hones...

Originally Posted by LikesBBS

69 responses and almost 900 views...under 12 hours...what have I done here

You just joined last Month and your already an Internet Sensation ...can't wait for your next thread....

Originally Posted by mainaman

Basically all the OP needs to do is stop asking and instead get to honing.Practice makes perfect. Once perfection has been achieved with the Nortons, then one can start thinking about greener pastures of the stone world if one so desires. Other wise it all becomes one expensive mistake, to correct.

Guilty as charged! I actually bought a couple of razors shave ready to put off learning to hone!!

The main reason I recommend the World of Straight Razor Shaving DVD (World Of Straight Razor DVD - Straight Razor Place Classifieds) is that the honing process was presented as "doable" and after watching it I mustered up the guts to do it! I was so afraid of ruining the razor and never getting back the edge that the original hone job had.

So, you wanted to start a thread where people state the hone/grit they stop honing at?

Actually I think this is pretty easy...sort of.

What 'grit' is a bare leather strop? I would bet that bare leather is the stopping point before the test shave for a lot of guys.

As far as hones go, I would guess equal percentages stop at 8K and 12k synthetics. A smaller percentage go higher. If you are talking naturals...you cannot really get true grit sizes (unless someone feeds you a line and you believe it).

I think the real question here should be, why would anyone care how others hone...why not concentrate on your own results and how to improve them?

If you are using 12K (I mean using it effectively and to its full potential...or even close to its potential), then you should not be concerned in the LEAST with what others here tell you. Or at least you shouldn't concern yourself with what I tell you, because I am not at that level yet...and I suspect there are a few others in the same boat.

That said, not all blades can truly benefit from super high grits...