this thread is designed to help people with sharpening their razors of course. but also it will show how diff. it can be between everyone. being as i need help to get my razors to pass the HHT i dont feel qualified to answer my own post. but i hope that this thread will help me and those in the same boat as me. people that can get their razors sharp....but not as sharp as it could be. but ill also at least put what i have 1k Bester 3k Trade Mark 6k King 8k Takenoko (will be here on tuesday) 12k Kitayama 4 sided strop by TI with diamond past (a .50 side and a .25 side) and lastly i have all 4 arkansas stones....the pocket size ones though. now tell me.....what do you have and what do you do to get that great edge guys and gals. P.S. tell us your process. not just what you have. there is already a post on the "what do you have" part of it.
Well, I wouldn't consider myself a honemeister, but I start off with the 4K side of a Norton 4K/8K combo stone. Then progress to the 8K side, take it to a 12K Chinese stone, then to a pasted paddle strop, and finally a latigo leather strop. If I really need to go back to the beginning with a blade, it goes on 1K or 2K sandpaper on a glass plate, then as above. I don't have a "pyramid" progression or anything so fancy. I usually just work slowly and don't put too many laps in on any one stone. Maybe ten strokes here and eight strokes there, then test. A little more, then test. Not very scientific, but it works for me.
I do different things depending on the steel and the state of the edge, and also on what mood I am in. To reset a bevel I use an atoma 1.2K diamond plate. From there I will move onto the 4K Norton usually. After that is where I tend to use different stones. Sometimes I like to continue onto the 8K norton, then the 16K Shapton glass stone, then my Nakayama Asagi, which I estimate to be a 30K+ stone. I probably do that progression the most often because it is consistent and predictable. However, sometimes I like to justify the expenditures I have made on my other hones, and have a natural stone honing day. That is when I move from the 4K Norton to the 6K Narutaki, then to the 10-ish K Taiwanese natural, then to the Oozuku Suita at around 15K, then onto the Asagi. Alternatively, I go from the Atoma diamond plate to a funny suita stone I have that looks like nagura and acts like a 4-6K stone, then sometimes to my Belgian combo stone, then my Escher, and again finish on the Asagi. Actually, the only certainties in any of my honing is that I will start at the diamond plate (if I need to) and end with the Asagi. Everything in the middle is potentially open. James.
I will apologize right now. But I just can not help myself since I'm addicted to bad jokes. How do I sharpen my razor? By buying a new pack of blades! Again I'm sorry but I've had a bad week and just had to vent!
One progression I like is DMT 1200, DMT 8000, Shapton Pro 12000, Nakayama Kiita, and newspaper. I tried the Naniwa SS 12000 and I found it to be too soft and just not of the same quality as the Shapton Pro. I thought about getting the Chosera line but it's too expensive. At some point, I'm going to get a stone for in between the DMTs though. I also like to use diamond lapping film. The edges are sticky sharp. I go 6 micron, 3 micron, 1 micron, and 0.3 micron. I end it with the Kiita. If an edge is too sharp, I hit the chromium oxide for a few passes.
Leather strop, a seatbelt strop, strop paste, and 20 bucks and the mailing address of a good honemeister is working well for me.
To keep my razors sharp I find a pasted hanging strop (with CrO2) is usually sufficient. Followed by stropping on linen and horsehide, of course. For honing a blunt razor I've had good results with the following progression: DMT D6E DMT D8EE Spyderco Fine lapped Spyderco Ultra Fine lapped C12K Balsa strop pasted with CrO2 Linen Horsehide I only use the D6E if the bevel needs to be (re)set. I'll sometimes just go up to the Spyderco UF and move on to stropping, but mostly I find the razors respond well to polishing on the C12K. The last couple of steps are a razor-specific decision. Some blades give me a better edge off the UF and some off the C12K. I also have a couple of barber hones, but I don't use them much.
Well I guess the question I have is if the blade is one I just acquired from thebay or one that I have honed before and needs a touch up. So I will give you my honing process. 1. I start off using a magic marker to cover the edge of the blade. 2. I use for the most part 1 layer of tape on the spine. If during the initial bevel setting process I notice that the blade is either warped or the spine has some excessive hone wear I have increased the tape to 4 layers. 3. I start off setting the bevel using a King 800 grit stone. Once I am satisfied the bevel is set and the TNT is satisfactory, I move on. 4. I then use a King 4k with a slurry for faster cutting. 40-50 laps 5. Then move to 4k with out slurry. and use TPT 40-50 laps 6. I move then to 8k King with slurry. 20-30 laps with TPT and arm hair. 7. then 8k with out slurry 20-30 laps with TPT and arm hair. 8. Then I move to my C12k 10-20 laps and check with HHT 9. Then move to leather paddle strop with .05 CromOx. 30-40 laps. check with HHT. This is my honing progression. Bill Wilcox
Ok let's go back to what JimboRoo said "It depends on the razor" this is so true for those of us the have a multitude of stones and a multitude of razors either your own, or if you actually are a Honemeister you need different setups.... All that BS aside if I were just a guy wanting to shave my face and I owned a normal collection of razors (7).... I would KISS..... for less then $120 shipped from Amazon (sorry all you guys out of the US ) you can buy the complete Norton set up, Lapping stone 220/1000 Combo & 4000/8000 Combo.... With this set you can sharpen every single razor made... Now comes the kicker, if you only use that set, you will get very, very, good at using it, and your edges will be excellent.... Now somebody will say, "Add this stone or that stone for a finisher" and you can if you WANT, but really, you don't NEED to..... The Naniwa SS and Shapton GS setups are my goto stones for most everything I do as a "Honemeister" right now..... They are fast, effcient, and leave very smooth, very sharp, edges....
BTW you have to develop the HHT before it can be used to quantify an edge... What I mean is this... My hair used for an HHT is useless, it pops at 1k, so what, it doesn't mean a thing... NOW my wife's baby fine hair, will only pop after I put forth my finest effort, so I know 99% of the time if it pops her hair, I have a shave ready razor.... But I have taken the time to figure that out, by getting to a shave ready razor then developing the HHT not the other way around... The shave test is still the only test that really matters... A good way to develop your tests is to practice them on a very good DE blade...
Glen is dead on the money with the HHT IMO. It needs to be calibrated and correlated to you and your shaves. It is not an absolute measure, but often people, especially people new to the process, think it should be or is - the idea that if an edge passes the HHT it should also be shave ready is just not true. You have to hone, test, shave, and iterate that process. Eventually you will learn how a test correlates to a shave, for you. The more you do it, the better you are able to understand the relationship between the test and your shaves, and eventually just doing the test will tell you whether you can expect a decent shave, or whether you need to do more honing. But getting to that point takes time. This is true of every non-shave edge test out there, IMO. James.
Well said, James! I've had people I honed a razor for calling me up telling the HHT didn't work (they did it for the first time). I just said to them: "go on and shave with ith and don't worry about the HHT". Every single one of them was satisfied with the resulting shave. How I hone my razors (and those of others)? I examine the razor and decide what needs to be done, whether I start with the Shapron 500 or 2000. The I go from there choosing the next hones as I go along depending on the progress of the razor, the feedback it gives me and my experience. The same goes for the technique used - I do it the way my gut says the razor demands.
