Some honing tips?

[Bassism]

Hey all,
I am looking for a little bit of guidance with regards to my honing technique.
My setup is bare bones. I have a DMT D8EE and a leather strop with no linen.
I've been generally trying about 50 laps on the hone, then about 50 laps on the strop, and I've been getting progressively closer to a shaveable edge.

One of my razors is a wapi, which I dropped in the sink one day and put a chip in to, which necessitated my need to try and hone it. I had previously planned to continue shaving with it and not put it to the stone until I knew what I was doing since I knew that as soon as I put it to the stone I would dull it to uselessness.
My other razor is a vintage Jones Bros and co that I picked up off of ebay. I've had better luck with it so far, getting it to the point now where it can cut hairs off of my arm, but still not nearly sharp enough to shave with.

I think part of my problem might be that neither of the razors likes to sit perfectly flat on the stone. Both of them are capable of it, but have funny shaped spines or something, and so take some coaxing.
As such, I've been supporting them with one of my fingers as I hone. Really more of an act of pushing them along and keeping them stabilized than putting pressure on them. I find that without that finger there, the blade rocks around on the hone, negating any hope at a consistent edge.

I've seen lots of talk of and pyramid schemes and all that, which are things that aren't much help, given my single hone to work with.

Can anybody give me some hints/thoughts on how to get that elusive razor's edge?

Thanks
M

PS Are there any honemeisters in the Ottawa area/Canada?

[Sticky]

Fifty laps on a DMT sounds like a lot to me. You may have over-honed the edge.

The D8EE is the only DMT grit that I haven't used yet, so I'll defer to a more experienced member.

[DEwey]

Martain,
I am not familiar with the hone that you're talking about - is it an 8k grit diamond hone?
I spend a lot of time over at StraightRazorPlace.com and there are numerous North of the Border guys there who could help with honing. I would recommend that you hone a warped blade in an X pattern and that no matter whether you use two hands or one to hone, that you use an even and extremely light touch. Good luck and I'm sure I'll see you around the boards!

[TromboneGuy]

Someone in another thread suggested that you could try fastening several sheets of newspaper to a block of balsa wood with rubber bands, and use that as a finishing hone. I think they said that after 200 to 250 laps you should have a pretty decent edge.

With that DMT EE you should really only need five or six laps, tops, before moving to a finishing hone if your blade is already in good shape. 50 is probably a LOT too much.

[Sticky]

You can use the marker trick to see if your DMT is actually still making a bevel or really working the edge (and where it's working the bevel).

[Kees]

It sounds like you might have overhoned the edge. Using a pyramid is usually recommended to solve that problem. Given the fact you only have one hone and a strop you could solve it by stropping 2 or 3 laps with the spine lifted a few millimeters off the leather and using very little pressure. That is how I do it. HOWEVER: THIS IS HIGHLY CONTROVERSIAL. IT WORKS FOR ME BUT MOST HONEMEISTER WILL TELL YOU NEVER TO DO IT.

If the razor is not overhoned you should do the bevel marking trick to find out if your edge is in touch with the hone along its full length.

As it sounds like you have a warped blade a narrow hone (less than 2") is very helpful. Other tricks are shifting the pressure from heel to toe with every stroke on the hone. These are all advanced honing techniques.

Another option is shipping it to a honemeister and get it honed for you.

[FloppyShoes]

I'm relatively local (Montreal). Drop me a PM if you need my services.

I can back up the effectiveness of Kees' spine lifting technique, but I wouldn't recommend it unless you already have a good feel for honing. You shouldn't need to.

[randydance062449]

If neither of your razors sit flat on the hone then both are a bit warped.... maybe. Perhaps it is your technique.

The tools that you have are inadequate to remove a nick from the edge. Some 1000 grit wet/dry sandpaper, cut to fit on top of the hone and used wet, will remove the nick provided that it is not to large. The DMT EE might do it eventually but it would take some time.

The best route is to send both razors out for evaluation and honing. Then you will have a bench mark for honing in the future.

Honing a slightly warped blade is difficult and very time consuming and you do need the properly sized and shaped hones. It is not a job for the beginner.

[Bassism]

Wow, lots of replies since I last checked in.
Thanks for all the tips everybody. Lots of interesting things.

For now, I think I've come to the conclusion that both of my blades are in need of some skilled attention, so I've decided to send one or both of them out.