Honing Blues

[Richard]

I've been str8 shaving for almost a year and finally have mastered the shave. Lynn Abrams honed my brand new dovo but in order to more fully enjoy the whole experience I got a norton 8k/4k as well as a paddle strop with a .05 omicron paste, and tried to learn to hone my own razor. I've watched the honing portion of Lynn's dvd several times and followed his 3-3, 1-3, 1-5 progression as well as other honing techniques found in this forum. I just can't get the edge back :(. I even checked out other's tecniques on youtube. I finally turned it over to my good buddy floppy shoes for a proper honing but boy would I like to know what I've been doing wrong. I always soak the Norton 15 minutes before starting and CAREFULLY follow Lynn's instructions - no soap. :frown: Any suggestions out there?

Rich

“If it’s empty, fill it – if it’s full, empty it” - Christian Bale as Deiter Dengler in “Rescue Dawn”

[Suzuki]

Honing is very tricky - there are so many variables.

1) Is you stone lapped (flattened properly)
2) Are you using too much pressure
3) Are you using too little pressure (not likely)
4) Are you using even pressure (vs. more towards the heel or toe)
5) Are you honing the razor evenly along its width
6) How many laps on your pasted strop - variable 2 - 5 apply here as well.

You can go through the "right" steps and still not get a good edge - there's a ton of variables and technique is both critical and something that takes a while to get down.

[joel]

I've been str8 shaving for almost a year and finally have mastered the shave. Lynn Abrams honed my brand new dovo but in order to more fully enjoy the whole experience I got a norton 8k/4k as well as a paddle strop with a .05 omicron paste, and tried to learn to hone my own razor. I've watched the honing portion of Lynn's dvd several times and followed his 3-3, 1-3, 1-5 progression as well as other honing techniques found in this forum. I just can't get the edge back :(. I even checked out other's tecniques on youtube. I finally turned it over to my good buddy floppy shoes for a proper honing but boy would I like to know what I've been doing wrong. I always soak the Norton 15 minutes before starting and CAREFULLY follow Lynn's instructions - no soap. :frown: Any suggestions out there?

Rich

“If it’s empty, fill it – if it’s full, empty it” - Christian Bale as Deiter Dengler in “Rescue Dawn”

Is your Norton Flat?

[edders]

That might be my guess too. I have a thread asking roughly the same question and I never had my brand new 4/8k flattened! I apparently need a DMT Coarse diamond plate :mad3: Get your hand back in your pocket, there is still more to buy.

[AFDavis11]

I see honing in a very different light than most, but:

You need to learn to use a proper stroke. Not just moving the blade around a stone.

You need to have a "map" in your mind for where your trying to get and where you at.

You need to learn how to evaluate where your "at" in the sharpening process.

You need to treat honing more like "sculpting in steel" and less like following others directions.

You need to make a smooth reasonably sharp edge.

You need to polish the bevel.

You need to smooth out to the limit of the blade.

You need to figure out when to STOP!

Finally, don't treat it like an equipment battle or a recipe.

[Richard]

Thanks fellas. My Norton is almost brand new.

I just got my Bill Ellis cd today and checked it out. Unlike Master Lynn, Bill uses both hands in honing and applies 1-2 lbs. of pressure on the 4k and slightly less on the 8k. I'll try this on some of my older razors before trying it on my dovo. I suspect I was too afraid of damaging the dovo and wasn't applying any pressure at all.

Rich

"There is no native criminal class except Congress," - Mark Twain

[kenrup]

Your Norton maybe brand new but I flatten/dress my hones when I get them with the Norton flattening stone. I have not gotten one stone that I did not need to flatten when it was knew. And I dress them again when the stone quits cutting the way I know it can cut. I use a slurry on 4K and up. I use slurry to watch what kind of action I'm getting from the stone. If the slurry wave is even and continuous, I know my blade is flat and the stone is flat. Slurry also helps cut a lot faster. I will then polish with chromium oxide paste. It does take time to build this skill.

[gglockner]

I can not speak for everyone hear, but if you are only working with one razor and it is the only razor you have you are probably not doing anything terribly wrong. It just takes tons of practice with several razors and learning all the steps and what it feels like to be at each step as Al listed. Some razors will be more difficult than others. Once you start honing other razors you will be able to see what I mean. Pick up some ebay razors to learn on. Try to find ones that are not over honed. The Norton hone is the most popular hone around, but I found it much more difficult to use than a barber hone. That is only me, since I started out on barber hones first.

Glen