Thread: Setting new bevel.

To be clear, I am not a pro honer. I would describe my skills as adequate for my face.

Your sharpening background sounds similar to mine, so I thought I'd share a bit of my journey. I got my first straight in the late 80's and got about a 1/2 dozen shaves off the factory edge. Edge got a bit harsh so, no problem, I'll just sharpen it up. Never did get the edge back. Fast forward a lot of years and I got back into straits. Found a local knife store that said they honed razors (it was only $4) had my original Dovo done as a benchmark and practiced on a couple of other razors I had picked up. The Dovo shaved kinda like I remembered, but it had been a while. Going off some spotty youtube videos and my previous knowledge, I was able to get shaves similar to the Dovo. Then I found SRP and started thinking the local honer might not have had the most skill (spine had clearly been on the stone and when I asked him if he had stropped it I got a hesitant reply of "yea, I did some stropping"). What I have learned so far is straights are way different to sharpen than knives. It's a whole different level of precision and care.

I came across this thread a few weeks ago (https://sharprazorpalace.com/honing/...on-2012-a.html) and read through it. I warn you, it's a long one. There's a ton of tips and helpful info there if you can wade through it. That thread got me to really focus on the bevel set, make sure I'd removed all the previous grits scratches (a 10X magnifier is really helpful), and be more exacting and patient. I worked with two blades and was rewarded with my best shaves to date.

I still feel like I can get better and will at some point send a blade to an SRP recommended honer, but that will be after I decide which blade grind/size/tip I want to have as my new benchmark. The folks at SRP really know their stuff and are super helpful.

Good luck on your journey.