Thread: Newbie's adventures in honing

Finally got a chance to set down with my stones tonight. I have a norton 200,1k, 4k, 8k, Naniwa 12K, Balsa strop with green paste, and a classic shave 3in leather strop. I had never honed a razor before but I work metal for a living so I figured it couldn't be that hard. I enjoy shaving with them and collecting them so I figure it was high time. I had 4 or 5 razors of different vintages that I had acquired so I picked one and set to work. After fumbling about for a while and accomplishing nothing I headed to youtube for "advice."

I tried Lynn's circles method for a while and I'm pretty sure I succeeded in making the razor about as sharp as a butter knife. I certainly mean no offense to Lynn or his technique, his honing skill seems legendary in these parts, but it just wasn't working for me. SO, after watching a bunch more videos I decided I'd jump in with both feet again.

I had a Geneva razor, about a 5/8 I think, I had purchased on ebay. It was listed as a vintage straight razor in "good condition." A more accurate description would have been "vintage razor shaped object, not for shaving." The tiny picture somehow managed to hide the frown larger than Obama's when the gun control bill died on the vine. I wish I had taken a picture but that seemed like I was expecting success, and I didn't want to jinx it. I'm talking this thing could spread peanut butter evenly on a banana, it was bad.

I decided that would be my test case. I know some of you are wondering why I would start with such a monstrosity but let me explain:
1) I knew that I couldn't mess it up any worse than it was
2) Starting from "no edge" would allow me to set my own bevel and let me see the razor take shape from a clean slate
3)If I could manage this one I would have the confidence to hone the rest of my razors

I set about leveling the edge by flattening it on a 200 grit norton (I believe its called butter knifing or bread knifing?) It took about an hour, with two trips to the sink to re-lap the stone to remove the tracks the ends of the razor made. After I was reasonably satisfied the edge was flat I set the bevel using a sort of x-stroke and progressed through the stones, checking evenness and finish on the edge as I went. I tried taping the spine but I didn't like the feel of that so I went bare. To my excitement, it appeared I was creating an edge! after some back and forth between testing and the stones I think I got a pretty good edge. It passed the HHT with fine under-coat hairs from my german shepherd, which he was all too glad to donate. I haven't gotten a chance to actually shave with it yet but I'm feeling pretty big about it all at this point. Here is some razor porn of the new shaver.


It's more like a 4/8 now I'd say but I'm excited to shave with it. I was excited enough I honed 4 more straights while I was at it. I realize this long, rambling post probably held very little value for most of you but I had to share with some folks who could appreciate it, since my significant other didn't seem to be all that interested

Hello Otis,
Not really sure what to say, not sure if I should congratulate you or not, as you have yet to shave with the razor, the ultimate pass or fail test. I can't say I would have worked on "4" more straights without getting a shave feedback on the first, but I do understand your enthusiasm on wanting to hone. I enjoy it too.

You stated that you had never honed a razor before, but you enjoy shaving with them & collecting them, so how did you maintain your razors?

I don't see any advantages in picking a problem razor from the start, to begin your honing journey.
I would not readily dismiss the effectiveness of the video you watched on Lynn's circles method, again, you have never honed before & you picked a problem razor from the start.

I guess I can say, "If your happy Otis, then I'm happy for you."

Otis
I really enjoyed your post. You write well and I appreciated your sense of humor.
Nice job on your first honing project.

John

Hey, Otis. I can really only chime in w/ Hirlau - both on the observations and how compelling the enthusiasm gets. Hirlau's comment about picking a problem razor from the start - is something I'd pay attention to. When starting, the small indicators of problems are easy to miss - and I sometimes still do. What that does when learning is to frustrate you and make you question the effectivess of what may be perfectly sound technique. There's enough subtle skills in learning to hone a known good razor to keep you quite busy. Tossing in the complications of restoring spine and bevel surfaces to parallel really muddies the water. Your metal skills will certainly be your friend, but like you'd counsel an apprentice metal worker - learn the basic honing skill well, then take on rescues. When that 'feel' is established, your skill will likely make you pick up the rest very quickly.