Inspirational tales of honing success

Bought myself a dovo 5/8 best quality the other day, the guy in the shop said it was shave ready, but it definitely wasn't, I used your method in the video, I dont have the chosera 5k, instead I have the norton 4/8k, but the other stones I have , I've had an acceptable result, the bevel is a little wider at the heal, probably from being heavy handed. I suppose this is something only experience and time will cure, but I am still a novice to honing.
The end result however is that the edge easily passes the HHT and gave a very comfortable shave today.
Thanks for the video, very educational, but OMG you strop fast!!!

 

+1, with the caveat that in my experience you need to spend more time on finer stones to refine the SR edge for a comfortable shave.
When I received my father in law's SR, I debated sending it out to be honed. I build musical instruments as a hobby using a lot of hand tools, so I am familiar with getting a really sharp edge on steel.
But what really made the decision for me was that a) this was his only SR. I don't think he had the luxury to wait 2 or 3 weeks for the turnaround, and b) I can't imagine that old fella actually spending money to have somebody else sharpen his razor. Nope, I'm sure he did it himself.
So I did the same. I can say that sharpening a str8t taught me what "sharp" really is. I got it what I would consider wicked sharp a couple of times, only to have to go back to the finer stone for a bit more because it wasn't shaving quite as comfortably as I wanted. In the end I got it so sharp that when it cuts the hair on my arm it's almost like the hairs just fly away from the blade.

 

Man, this thread needs a well deserved BUMP!
What a wealth of info in a very short space! The tips from everyone here are invaluable but the honemiesters tips from @gssixgun and @Jamie Mahoney are are spot on for rookies like me!

 

Jamie
Excellent video, I have to agree with what Steve and Kevin both said.

 

I cannot view this video. It tells me "error occurred. Try again later". When I hit the youtube link to go direct to the video, it sends me to youtube's home page. More's the pity.

 

Sorry Mike I had to create a new You tube account and the video was deleted and I no longer have the original, perhaps I'll make another.

 

That's alright, Jamie. I watched it the first time you posted. Just wanted to watch it again.

 

Does anyone have a magnified image of a well honed edge? I have a microscope that goes up to 100x magnification.

 

I have a Belomo 20x Quadruplet loupe magnifer and in all honesty that shows me more than I need to see.

 

The problem is I don't know what a well honed edge should look like.

 

It's all about refinement click the link and scroll down the page. https://jendeindustries.wordpress.com/tag/straight-razor-honing/page/2/

 

My honing improves every time I go to a meet. Hands on time with others can't be beat when it comes to learning. If you hone or want to hone find a way to get to a SR meet.

 

So, any SR meets in the UK, West Midlands to be precise?

 

What my friend Shaun just said

Welcome to the Den BTW

 

I would check with other members in your area. A get together or a meet need not be fancy. Two or more members working on their skills together. It helps if one of the members know what they are doing. My UK geography. well my geography, really stinks so I am not even going to make any suggestions as to who you should talk to. There are others in the UK, and I am confident that you can find or make a meet.