So, what adjustments are needed for a smiling blade? Rotate the blade while passing across the film? I have one I wish to touch up a little.
Lapping film, try it.
- Thread starter Blix
- Start date
okay I'm in....just ordered some film from Amazon...3M 9x13 sheets in 15, 9, 5, 3, 1, and .3...(no 12 in stock)..but after I ordered I noticed that 15 and 5 were "Silicon Carbide" and not Alum. Oxide like the others....can I still use them?
Going to go to Home depot and get some granite tile cut into 9 x 3.25 pieces...does that sound like a good plan? or should I use a different dimension on the tile?
Going to go to Home depot and get some granite tile cut into 9 x 3.25 pieces...does that sound like a good plan? or should I use a different dimension on the tile?
I went the same route as you, and found that the Silicon Carbide film works fine for honing. However, I did see two drawbacks. 1) The film was not transparent, which makes it difficult to see if there is any debris or air bubbles between the film and the stone. 2) The film comes off of the wet stone in a spiral and is very hard to reuse.
I was able to find polished marble wall tiles that were roughly the same dimension in packs of three at Home Depot. These work well for honing with film.
Anyone? Little help?
Rolling X requires lifting the blade, I am wondering if that is advisable with lapping film.
When I used film, I honed on it exactly as if it was a stone. Did several blades with big smiles (avatar). I can't see how it is possible to hone a smile without a rolling stroke. You may call your stroke something else but a smile is a conical section, you have to roll it to get contact on all of the edge.
It's not a problem if you do it with weight of blade only, which is what I think should be done regardless of stroke.
A little bit of a thread necro, but I messed around with lapping film for the first time today with my Baurmann spike point which was starting to get a little tuggy. It was previously honed with tape which I wasn't planning on using so I started off by spoiling the edge on glass and reset the bevel on 12 um film, and went from there with more or less the method that Slash McCoy described on page 2 or so of this thread, eventually finishing on 1 um film over paper.
The results were pretty good overall - not as keen an edge as the same razor honed on a GMN 200, but plenty keen to shave with (seemed keener than the ILR and coticule edges that I've shaved with) and reasonably smooth. I only did 20 laps on cloth and 60 on leather after honing, I bet that I'd have gotten a smoother edge had I stropped more. In any case, this was way quicker and easier than I thought it would be. I've got .3 um film too, next time this razor gets dull I might refresh the edge with the 1 um film followed by the 0.3 um film over paper and see how that turns out. Thanks to Seraphim, Slash McCoy and others who have been very helpful in bringing this honing method to B&B!
The results were pretty good overall - not as keen an edge as the same razor honed on a GMN 200, but plenty keen to shave with (seemed keener than the ILR and coticule edges that I've shaved with) and reasonably smooth. I only did 20 laps on cloth and 60 on leather after honing, I bet that I'd have gotten a smoother edge had I stropped more. In any case, this was way quicker and easier than I thought it would be. I've got .3 um film too, next time this razor gets dull I might refresh the edge with the 1 um film followed by the 0.3 um film over paper and see how that turns out. Thanks to Seraphim, Slash McCoy and others who have been very helpful in bringing this honing method to B&B!
Slash McCoy
I freehand dog rockets
I learned it from Seraphim.
Everyone learned film from Seraphim.
There's no doubt that your 1um film was keener than an ILR or coticule edge. The .3 probably would have resulted in a smoother edge.
There's no doubt that your 1um film was keener than an ILR or coticule edge. The .3 probably would have resulted in a smoother edge.
The things that surprised me the most were that the bevel set didn't take very long at all, and that the final product at the end of the progression was pretty serviceable on the first go 'round. I had heard that bevel setting with film was particularly tedious, but that wasn't my experience (it took ten or fifteen minutes on the 12 um film) and now I kind of wonder whether the folks who said that were only considering the case of chipped-to-hell fleamarket specials or whether something else is going on. In any case I'm pleased that the job was quick and pleasant.
Actually, high-end diamond film is significantly faster than the best hones, except perhaps the Shapton Glass but they work about the same. I am guessing that since you referenced 12um you were using AO film and not diamond. AO is quite a bit slower than the diamond.
Right, I was using the 3M aluminum oxide film sheets sold by "Fiber Optics For Sale".
Slash McCoy
I freehand dog rockets
I no longer refer to 12u film as my bevel setter at all. I either start with the blue 30u film, or 600 or 1k grit wet/dry paper. I DO find bevel setting on 12u to be sometimes tedious, and serious edge repair a no-go. The 12u is just a refiner after the real bevel setting, for me.
Because I like a nice big honing surface, I do not use diamond film. A 6x6 sheet doesn't do me any good. If they made 9x13 sheets I would probably consider it.
Because I like a nice big honing surface, I do not use diamond film. A 6x6 sheet doesn't do me any good. If they made 9x13 sheets I would probably consider it.
I use the 15u diamond or on occasion the 30u. I have the 45, 60 and 80 but have only fooled around with them on old very chipped blades.
I believe you can get the 9 x 13 diamond from a high-end maker, but it's very costly. I use the edge pro size mostly or the 2 x 6.
I still prefer the synthetics, but I use film on roughly 20% of my hones for one reason or another.
It is satisfying that my propaganda and long term brainwashing techniques weren't totally in vain...
Where are people finding decent sized sheets of 5um aluminum oxide film these days btw? The source I bought from jumped from 9um to 3um in the 9"x13" 3M sheets.
Slash McCoy
I freehand dog rockets
I would certainly like to try some diamond film if I could find big sheets. I have not found any yet.
Check your PMs.
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