Thread: Setting new bevel.

Originally Posted by outback

If you'd like, I'll hone it for free. All it'll cost ya, is shipping to my place. I'll take care of it going back.

Your call

Super generous, this place is beginning to sound like the knife forum I frequent. However, I think I'd rather keep this one as a razor to work on personally, and just get a second, shave ready one. Thank you again though.

BST is a great way to get a second razor at a decent price. You can also find some very nice, more costly ones there too. Id take outback up on his offer. Send him your razor and buy another off our forum that is shave ready. Then within a week or two you will have something really shave ready by outback and possible a second one too.

When your learning having two is best. One to send off or to practice honing on and one ready.
Id recommend you start with learning the shave first. Learn to hone later. Its important to learn on a proper edge. Not something that might be close to right.

Originally Posted by Gregory27

Super generous, this place is beginning to sound like the knife forum I frequent. However, I think I'd rather keep this one as a razor to work on personally, and just get a second, shave ready one. Thank you again though.

To each their own...

But should you come across something you like, that needs attention, the offer is there, for ya.

Buttery smooth shaves await, all ya gotta do is stick your neck out, a bit.

Originally Posted by yondermountain91

I would definitely get a 'shave ready' razor from a reputable source. My first two razors were from Lynn and it taught me what a smooth, keen edge feels like. Contact a mentor about what they recommend or something. Maybe check out the B/S/T section, usually good starter razors for around 40-50 dollars. I'd also like to mention that when first starting out, new people have a tenancy to do more harm than good on the strop. There really is more than just moving it up and down without nicking the strop.

-Laramie-

I'm using a 3x11 mounted bovine strop (more appropriate for my knives,) is that still fine for a straight razor?

That will work fine as long as it’s clean, no pastes or left over burrs from stropping knives.

Not sure what kind of technique you use for knives but with razors raising a burr is not something you want to do, it promotes a micro serrated edge and for razors is generally a waste of steel. The edge on the razor should be a reflection of the stone you hones it on, ie 10k stone you want only 10k scratches on the bevels forming the edge, the name of the game is smooth. Use a light touch and make sure you complete the job on each hone in your progression before you move up. I’m fairly proficient when it comes to honing knives but the knowledge did little for me when I came to learning how to hone a razor.

Everything rides on setting a " PERFECT " bevel. If this is not achieved, the rest of the process is just a waste of time. Learning to torque the edge of the blade, while keeping the spine on the hone and not putting downward force on it, is the key to honing razors.

You'll be surprised at how long it takes, to get a proper bevel set, and joined. Some ya gotta put down n walk away, come back another day. Its that, or send it into the wall.... I'm not kiddin!!!. Really, we don't want to do that, but some razors are tough.

Knives are like a sharp stick, good enough to put an eye out. Razors...were talkin surgical.

If you can get to a meet, that is the perfect spot for learning to hone, there is often good deals on razors too.

Originally Posted by outback

Everything rides on setting a " PERFECT " bevel. If this is not achieved, the rest of the process is just a waste of time. Learning to torque the edge of the blade, while keeping the spine on the hone and not putting downward force on it, is the key to honing razors.

You'll be surprised at how long it takes, to get a proper bevel set, and joined. Some ya gotta put down n walk away, come back another day. Its that, or send it into the wall.... I'm not kiddin!!!. Really, we don't want to do that, but some razors are tough.

Knives are like a sharp stick, good enough to put an eye out. Razors...were talkin surgical.

I, and my knives, take mild offense to the sharp stick comment. I'll have to play around a little bit with the technique on the stones I think. That slight torquing sounds vaguely similar to hitting either the shinogi line or the edge on a single bevel Japanese knife.

Similar for sure, same thing as the spine to edge setting the geometry, use electrical tape on the spine until you get a feel for using the the spine as a fulcrum, it will teach you proper pressure without unnecessarily wearing out the spine from too much down pressure. After setting the bevel with some torque applied run the edge on the side of your hone really lightly or drag it through a cork, felt, or a piece of wood to make sure you removed any possible burr then go back to the bevel setting hone (I use a 1k) and give it a few light strokes to bring the edge back. Learning to get a good bevel set is the hardest part of the whole thing, same as with a knife. The foundation of your house so to speak.

I too have honed knives since I was very young, somewhere around the age of 6 or 7. And found honing razors to be a bit more technical than knives.

I freehand hone, with the use of no holding jigs for angles. Its all done by repeating muscle memory, which to me is more difficult than razors. Also why most knives have a convexing bevel. So I give u kudo's on the knife honing, their not as easy as some make out, either

Some razors are done with a double bevel, hence...micro bevel.

Your gonna have a blast with razors, they'll really up your game on knife edges, too.