I got my first honing stone 1000/6000 recently, watched some youtube tutorials and had a go but even after stropping with green paste the blade seems as dull as before. What are common mistakes? Did I perhaps not hone long enough? Thanks.
1000 grit is for setting bevels on straight razors, around 6000 grit is more of the sharpening phase not polishing; it's also quite a leap from 1k to 6k there may not have been enough strokes in between stones. I've shaved off an 8000 grit edge before and while its possible it doesn't yield great results IMO; I'm not sure you'd want to shave off of 6k at all unless your face was made of bridle leather. My progression (with a friends Shaptons since I'm waiting for money to buy my new set) is 1,000, 3000,8000, 16000 and it works well - razor honing depends on the condition of the bevel above all else if that is hooped then you won't get a good edge no matter how many strokes you do on the stone. Most users are perfectly fine having a razor honed by a honemeister once, and refresh it yourself as needed with Chromium Oxide, diamond paste, or in worse cases going to a finishing stone like 12-16k. What youtube videos were you using as a guide, and how long have you been straight shaving for? Not to mention what razor, and brands of hone is it
Thanks. I mostly shave with a safety but I shaved with the grain about a dozen times. Against the grain is impossible as the razor stalls which is probably due to lack of sharpness. Can you recommend any videos? But I might just save me the trouble and have it honed by a meister.
http://www.youtube.com/user/gssixgun/videos http://www.youtube.com/user/LynnSAbrams/videos Those would be the two of the best collections of videos youtube has to offer. As a general rule, it's best to wait at least 6 months of straight razor shaving before even considering how to hone; without good stropping the best edge put on a razor will end up garbage, as well having razors professionally sharpened first, will give you a solid place to gauge your sharpness and smoothness when working with edges.
Thank you, pal. So is there a way you can get a straight as sharp as a feather blade? Is that the proper sharpness a straight must have?
The razor I got back from Glen @ Gemstar Customs (gssixgun on here) was easily as sharp as a Feather blade, however it had quite a bit more smoothness in comparison. But as I said before, stropping is the true key for keeping a straight razor shave ready; even a 3" wide paddle strop can work wonders for developing your technique. I believe both Glen & Lynn have videos on youtube for teaching people excellent habits for stropping.
The best test that determines if I am going the right direction when honing is to first check to see if the razor cuts arm hair before you leave the 1k and then if the razor pass the hht and splits hair with minimal effort before leaving the finishing hone.
Ok that helps, I am going to assume that this is a newer TI and that the 1k/6k is a King??? You are really trying do something with two extremes when it comes to the Razor and the Hone The TI: The newer TI's are some of the harder steels out there for SR's they are advertised in the 63RHC range this is up there for a SR.. The King 1k/6k is a bit under gunned to take on the TI steel, I am not saying it won't work I am saying that it won't be easy Even if you get the bevel to set with working the 1k, the 6k is going to have a hard time polishing out the TI steel, I honestly don't think you have enough hone there for that razor to get to the level it is capable of.. Honing longer and pushing harder will hurt rather then help..
