Finally seem to have cracked this Honing Thing

Guys i was having doubts about using my Straight. Then Slash McCoy advised me to use diamond paste and balsa board strops. Well tonight after using the 1um then .25 um diamond pastes on two 3" balsa wood boards, i think i've finally cracked this Honing Thing. I googled diamond paste and found a dealer in Sydney so i called him and discussed the issue and he was very helpful. His name is Victor Hogan from Kemet.com.au email [email protected] Ph 0298314922. So i ordered a 5 gram tube of 1-KD-C1 which is a 1um diamond paste for A$23.00 and a 1/4-KD-C2 which is a .25um paste for A$40.00 and paid A$14.00 postage and it was in Perth the following afternoon.
I made up two MDF bat shaped boards out of 17" by 3" by 16mm thick with an additional handle of 5" with a large hole for storing on a nail. Sorry Slash i didn't follow your lead and go with the glass tile thing but this worked for me.
Anyway so i use the 1000 grit stone to set the bevel then i also used my 3000, 4000 and 8000 grit stones before finally using the diamond strops. It didn't take too long as the 1um paste (the blue paste)really did the trick getting the edge shining; then the .25 um paste (the white one) got the edge up to speed for the standing hair test. Well i've never had my straight so sharp. So after cutting down a forest of hair on my upper leg i couldn't wait to have a shave with it, after i touched it up on the .25 um board i mean.
Whilst it wasn't a perfect shave due to my technique; it was by far my best ever shave with my Bengall Straight.
So i have finally come from the dark side and despite a few weepers i am finally ready to join the ranks of those of you who enjoy shaving with a razor you have sharpened yourself. Yihaa (success at last). Now i can't wait to sharpen my home made Kamisoris i made using tool steel on a 200mm grinder. I'll let you know how i get on, cheers......

That's awesome!

Congrats!

You're on the way!

Cheers, Steve

Congratulations!

Now, the real trick to a long-lasting happiness is to just keep doing it this way. By all means, do NOT let yourself start experimenting, trying different stones and finishers ... just don't do it. Remember: ignorance is bliss! (This is tongue in cheek ... mostly.)

Cool - glad your plan is coming together!

nice, well done.

nothing more satisfying than when you first start shaving with your own edges and enjoy them. just make sure to keep practicing regularly. get a couple practice razors and hone from time to time.

Congrats - I was contemplating a home made kamisori - very interested to here of that project!

Here's a photo of my first two Kamisoris. The top one is up to shaving now; the other needs some work. I couldn't get the edges right until i started using the 1um and .25um diamond pastes. The top one is covered with Army hootchie cord the bottom one is distressed with an air cut off wheel on the grip and spine. I would like to try a few different designs in the future. i found creating the omate and ura was not easy and quite frankly i think i'll just stick with the western style double hollow grind for ease of grinding and use. They were made from a tool steel scraper blade so they are quite thin. i used a 200mm bench grinder to do the hollow grinding. i am in the process of making a belt grinder with an 8 or 10" wheel for hollow grinding hunting knives and Kamisoris as well. I have a friend with a forge so i would like to try forging, hardening and tempering a Kamisori out of a really high quality knife steel one day. cheers give it a go ......

Awesome

Wow you are really jumping into the deep end. Congrats on your success! Try the .1u diamond. The difference is incredible. Use plenty of laps, then a few pull strokes, and some time on a thin unpasted balsa sheet before hanging leather stropping. If an edge can be considered "too sharp", this is one that has the potential.

If you are working with really thin steel due to availability issues, you might want to try making a frameback. Just getcha some stainless tubing, cut a slot down the side, spread it open if needed, slide it onto the spine of the razor, and smush it right on there. Might take a few tries to get blade width just right for the thickness of the frameback spine. Better to start too wide maybe, and reduce until you get an acceptable bevel angle. If it wants to slide off the razor, dope it up with some loctite or something. Epoxy maybe.

And BTW...

Welcome to the DAAAAHHHHHHRRRRRRRRRK SIIIIIIIIIIIIIDE..... BWAAAAA-Hahahahaha!

Awesome. Congrats!

Cheers Slash, i couldn't get the .1um paste but i'll keep trying. Your idea of using Stainless steel tubing for a spine gave me an idea on how to maybe hone those worn out shaper blades for my Weck Sextoblade (deadliest razor on the planet i say). Has anyone tried to rehone those type of shaper blades? Has anyone had any luck? I didn't want to use my Weck and wear it out on my stones trying to hone the old blades; but maybe i can do it using some stainless tubing as a temporary honing spine? Hummm, come on someone's gotta have tried it?