Mmm... I think I'll stick with Iwasaki's advice, the guy knew a thing or two about steel, edges, sharpening, etc.
Touch-Ups vs Rehoning
- Thread starter JPO
- Start date
I learned a lot from this thread. Touch ups have never been clear to me. In my twisted world, if the bevel is not being reset, it's a touch up. When I feel something is off, I usually use a $10 Carson to evaluate it and it seems like I usually end up on a 5k.
So one thing that bothers me is that while working up from 5k to finish, I always limit my strokes to less than 20 on the 8k and 12k. I've seen that recommended before. While learning water stones, Ive caused myself troubles by too many strokes on 8 and 12k.
Is the best practice to evaluate and determine if the 8 or 12k will remove the problem in recommended number of strokes while doing a touch up, or hone on the 8k until the problem taken care of, regardless of stroke count?
If I just see a sparkly apex I could understand using the finisher (Ark) or 12k. Yes, a touch up. Usually what I'm feeling and seeing would probably be best addressed on the 5k.
So one thing that bothers me is that while working up from 5k to finish, I always limit my strokes to less than 20 on the 8k and 12k. I've seen that recommended before. While learning water stones, Ive caused myself troubles by too many strokes on 8 and 12k.
Is the best practice to evaluate and determine if the 8 or 12k will remove the problem in recommended number of strokes while doing a touch up, or hone on the 8k until the problem taken care of, regardless of stroke count?
If I just see a sparkly apex I could understand using the finisher (Ark) or 12k. Yes, a touch up. Usually what I'm feeling and seeing would probably be best addressed on the 5k.
Steve56
Ask me about shaving naked!
I’ll stick with personal experience versus advice.
- Thread starter
- #44
This will depend on allot of factors. How much wear is there on the edge, what stones are you using. The quality of the steel might also factor in.
Some stones, like the Naniwa SS don't work well for me if I spend too much time on one grit. Other stones are more flexible and forgiving, which can give you more range of use.
As you shave with the razor the steel undergoes plastic deformation. We do the best we can to allign this by stropping. However, the steel undergoes strain hardening, and the steel changes. You also get steel fatigue that cause chipping. When you try to hone this steel on a polishing stone it will not behave the same. Hard and brittle steel might be more problematic because it might already be brittle before the strain hardening caused by use.
Sometimes you need to cut back some steel to get "fresh" steel.
It all comes down to trial and error. However, it doesn't hurt to invest some time to understand the technical aspects of the variables.
The end result is just more honing. So, how deep you want to dive into this is up to you.
This reminds me of when I was teaching guys how to operate a Sunnen Hone at work. When I would show them the stone cabinet and they always asked why there were so many different stones?
I would tell them because no two honers ever use the same stones because we will always develop a different feel for the stone, and a different stroke. I can only give you a place to start from, try these stones first, and if that doesn't work, try these. If that doesn't work, try a shorter or longer stone.
Honing straight razors is no different. I had 45+ years of experience using Sunnen Hones at work and thought a lot of what I knew would transfer, but even my understanding of stones I'm still going back and re-setting bevels on razors I honed when first starting out and noticing a vast improvement. It is a process.
~doug~
