Thread: honing question

hey there,
I am in the procecss of honing my razor right now, and I am realizing what my problem is. When I push the razer at the end of each stroke when the blade is only half on the stone I am having trouble not tilting the blade up or down which is ruining my edge.
So, what I am wondering is, can I leave the blade on the stone the whole time and just have it tilted on the stone as i push it, so the handel leads slightly? I don't know if I am being very clear with my question. The blade would have the same diagonal serrations as it would if i were doing the x pattern, but i won't have the tiping trouble.
Hope you get what I'm saying.
thanks
Nick

Yes you can, this is called a heel leading stroke. Not the best practice but it'll work.

ok, thanks!!!
why is that not as good of a way to do it? is it because of wearing out the stone less evenly as the x pattern? or does it have something to do with the blade?

Actually, what you said in your posting is wrong.

When the blade is 1/2 off the lower edge of the stone, you can damage it by
tilting down but NOT by tilting up.

Tilting up will not do any damage at all.

So, when honing, just try to err in favor of lifting up, in other words, put your heavier pressure on the point, not the handle, if you can't keep it even.

You will find that just thinking about this while honing will reduce the number of times you tilt down and dig in.

The reason you want to do the X motion is you want to develop a smooth motion of sliding the edge, flipping to the other side, and sliding--similar to the smooth motion you want to develop stropping.

Remember the key is to keep the back of the razor on the hone, never lift it, and always move the razor forward and down. Develop this motion and you razor will get sharper and sharper.

I'm still new at this, but I stuck with the X motion, keeping the back down and flipping, and it made all the difference. I am getting pretty nice shaves now with razors I have honed entirely myself.

Paul
(still pretty much a newbie--haven't shaved my adams apple yet)