Thread: Shave after my first honing attempt

So today I shaved with a razor that I honed myself, and I have to say, I was surprised in several areas.

The first was that the shave was rougher than I expected. I did probably 10 laps per side on the 1k until I could tell that I was just rolling the edge by continuing. Then probably another 10 laps on the 4k until I got the same feedback. Then about 15 laps on the 8k until same feedback, then I lightly straightened out the edge with a few more passes on the 8k. Then 50 passes on CrOx filly strop from Kenrup, 50 passes on linen, 50 on leather. I think I need to work more on the polishing from the 8k stone, and on the polishing on the CrOx strop.

The second area that surprised me is that the shave went so well, all things considered. I had about a week's growth on my face, and I only did a quick single pass shave because I had to get to work, but this shave is easily the best shave I've ever had. My cheeks and chin are damn near BBS, and my neck is much closer than I've ever gotten before. No nicks or cuts throughout the entire shave. Also, I used a different lathering technique than I usually do, and while I got a thicker lather, it dried out about 1/4 of the way through the shave, which has never happened before, and made the shave rougher (I think).

So I have a couple explanations for why the shave was simultaneously so rough and so close. The first possibility is that I just happened to use all the right technique, and got a great shave with a semi-sharp blade. The second possibility, and the one I'm leaning toward, is that the long growth, combined with the questionable lather, made the actually quite well sharpened blade work harder, but that the significant sharpness achieved a closer shave. I'll be trying the same blade again tomorrow to see how the stubble length affected the shave. Also, I figured out how to correct the lather problem, so I should be good there tomorrow also. To replicate the experiment as closely as possible I'll also be going single pass tomorrow.

On the whole, I'm very happy with my first honing attempt. My Norton waterstones are beautiful and very easy to use. Very responsive and give great feedback also. A couple more months of these guys and I'll be looking at a Shapton 16k. Maybe even a 30k.

Thanks everyone for your help and advice. I've learned a LOT from the wiki, various threads and from PM convos with various members that have really helped me a lot. SRP FTW!

Any feedback or comments would be greatly appreciated.

Good on you and it can only get better

Well done!

Its immensely satisfying to shave with a razor that you have honed yourself..!

All the best and happy shaving!

I use norton stones too. How do you feel that you're rolling the edge and feedback in general?

Originally Posted by rupert87

I use norton stones too. How do you feel that you're rolling the edge and feedback in general?

Well, I've been sharpening blades since I was 12, started with my little "youth ax" or whatever it was. At the time I used 2 files, one coarse and one fine to sharpen the ax. When I got a little older I moved into sharpening machetes and swords and learned to use a grinding wheel for bevel setting and a file for touch up. Then I took a timber-framing class and learned to sharpen my chisel via grinding wheel and wet-stone honing. Besides always having sharpened my pocket knives.

Point is I know what I'm doing with a blade and sharpening tool, be it file, grinding wheel or hone. That's how I knew I was rolling the edge. There's a certain feel about it. I think the best description is that the side you're honing will start to just slide over the hone, and when you flip to the other side it'll feel like you're dragging an anchor through wet concrete. Perhaps a better example is if you've ever used a hand-saw to cut through a large timber, you know that if you keep the saw at the same angle for too long, the blade starts to just slide over the same fibers without doing much cutting. If you get the blade on the edge and angle it differently, it will be harder to push and pull through the wood, but you can definitely feel it cutting.

As far as feedback generally, the stones very clearly speak to me regarding how quickly they're cutting through the metal, so I know when to move up in grit simply based on the original condition of the blade and the speed the hone is cutting at. If it's cutting pretty well, I only need 10 laps or so to set the bevel. If it's cutting slowly, I'll need more. At some point it really all comes down to experience and educated guesswork, but my theory is that if you're not sure, give it a few more laps. It's really not that easy to go backwards if you're following all the proper steps in the wiki. Even if you don't know what you're doing you'll probably get pretty damn close. And at that point, shave with it and see if you like it. If you do, do the same thing next time. If not, make some changes and see if you like them.

I think that's another issue with honing. Everyone's face is different, their beard is different density and coarseness, so everyone's going to prefer their razor honed a little differently. It's why I lost no time in buying hones and practicing, because I knew that only I could truly hone my razors to what I would think is the best.

Oh, and after several more shaves with the original blade, and several with another razor I sharpened the same way at the same time, I'm convinced it was just because the beard was long and I was experimenting with prep. All my other shaves have been like butter through a hot knife.

It only takes a few licks on the chrome ox, 50 passes may be too much, congrats on the achievement!