Thread: Been shaving two weeks, need help

i have your same setup and i will say that at first i thought i was getting the blade sharp, until i read that the blade should be popping hairs off the 4k hone, for me i was at the time popping hairs off teh 8k and it wasn't easy, and made a ping noise slightly. this was because i hadn't been patient and spent more time on the 4k. i use the hanging hair test but many don't like it. for me if the blade passes hht off the 4k without effort then about 100 laps on the 8k and some serious stropping (i always strop more when the blade is fresh off the hone). i have a 12k chinese also which seems to make a little bit of a difference but there is no reason you NEED one. from the 4k on the pressure is a big factor so pay attention to it. this is just me , but i would tape the spine to reduce hone wear.

so here is my suggestion, lap the stones, tape the spine, go back to the 4k until it pops the hairs on your arm with the edge and a spine width above the surface of your skin, hit the 8k (again light pressure on both hones) for about 100 laps (i know guys will say there is no set number, but 100 seems to work for me) strop with a taught strop and light pressure (i do about 50 on the linen and anywhere from 100-200 on the leather) and shave test.

this is just what i do and it seems to work, i am NOT a honemeister and am certainly still learning all the time. everyone develops their own technique, but you have to start somewhere right.

good luck
Wes

The closest honemeister to you is your mail box. If you send it out be sure to protect it well. The best I have heard is to wrap in bubble wrap, put into a small PVC pipe and tape the ends. This will prevent crushing from other heavy packages while in the post.

If you want to continue honing your own blade be aware of over honing and the wire edge that results from it. If you use the pyramid method (See wiki) or back hone (spine first for a couple of strokes) the wire edge will not be an issue. It make take a while for the full length of the blade to get sharp and different spots may arrive before others. Continued honing will develop a wire edge in the spots that are already sharp. Back honing will break the wire edge, then do several strokes edge first to restore the edge. Honing a razor is a bit more fussy than other edges like knives. Good luck.

Everyone is telling me to tap the spine. Are you sure? I thought the spine is specifically designed for the blade and that the spine is supposed to wear down with the edge evenly as a result of honing/stropping to maintain the right angle of the bevel? i.e. If you tap the spine for 40 years your spine will be the original thickness but the blade could be 2/8" shorter than when new resulting in a more obtuse angle between the blade edges than originally.

Originally Posted by gunslingor

Does anyone know of a honemaster around chattanooga (GA, TN, NC, AL, KY). I have looked on this site, but none of the honemaster seem to list their locations.

I know that Lynn and I both are planning on hitting the Asheville NC meet up in June if yer at all close to there you should mark the first weekend in June on your Calendar and try and make it... Doc has a thread going here about it http://straightrazorpalace.com/get-t...gathering.html

Originally Posted by gssixgun

I know that Lynn and I both are planning on hitting the Asheville NC meet up in June if yer at all close to there you should mark the first weekend in June on your Calendar and try and make it... Doc has a thread going here about it http://straightrazorpalace.com/get-t...gathering.html

Hey, thanks.

I will definitely try to make it.

Originally Posted by Joed

The closest honemeister to you is your mail box. If you send it out be sure to protect it well. The best I have heard is to wrap in bubble wrap, put into a small PVC pipe and tape the ends. This will prevent crushing from other heavy packages while in the post.

If you want to continue honing your own blade be aware of over honing and the wire edge that results from it. If you use the pyramid method (See wiki) or back hone (spine first for a couple of strokes) the wire edge will not be an issue. It make take a while for the full length of the blade to get sharp and different spots may arrive before others. Continued honing will develop a wire edge in the spots that are already sharp. Back honing will break the wire edge, then do several strokes edge first to restore the edge. Honing a razor is a bit more fussy than other edges like knives. Good luck.

Which mailbox? I looked in my private messages and my email but didn't see anything.

Originally Posted by gunslingor

Everyone is telling me to tap the spine. Are you sure? I thought the spine is specifically designed for the blade and that the spine is supposed to wear down with the edge evenly as a result of honing/stropping to maintain the right angle of the bevel? i.e. If you tap the spine for 40 years your spine will be the original thickness but the blade could be 2/8" shorter than when new resulting in a more obtuse angle between the blade edges than originally.

Razor angles range from about 10 degrees to 20 degrees, tape changes that angle less than 1/2 a degree it really doesn't make a difference, although there are some that believe in your train of thought....
You can change that angle back with 20 laps on a 4k stone on the razor the second time you hone it if it bothers you... By the time the razor is ready to be honed again the bevel will be convex enough that you can go any direction that you chose.... But if you wear down the spine at the beginning there is absolutely no fix for that....

Originally Posted by gunslingor

Everyone is telling me to tap the spine. Are you sure? I thought the spine is specifically designed for the blade and that the spine is supposed to wear down with the edge evenly as a result of honing/stropping to maintain the right angle of the bevel? i.e. If you tap the spine for 40 years your spine will be the original thickness but the blade could be 2/8" shorter than when new resulting in a more obtuse angle between the blade edges than originally.

If you are an experienced honer and it is a new razor or close to it the amount of spine wear you will create with an untaped spine will be negligible. In learning to hone you will probably do many more laps with more pressure until you develop you stroke and the feel for honing with very little pressure. There are times where more pressure is required but knowing when is also part of the learning process.

I tape all of my razors because I have so many that remembering which were taped and which were not would be more trouble then it is worth. If you have your razor honed professionally and get some old ebay blades to practice on you would be better off IMO.

Originally Posted by gunslingor

Which mailbox? I looked in my private messages and my email but didn't see anything.

Your actual postal box, i.e snail mail. They were insinuating that you should send the razor out to be honed, with which I totally agree. I understand your desire to learn straights and honing, but there is sooooooo much information for the new straight shaver that it can be difficult to learn everything, and learning some things before others can actually inhibit your progress on the road of knowledge.

For instance, I applaud your desire to leap right into honing razors, but it is very different from sharpening knives, and so requires a new set of knowledge and skills. If you send out the razor you want to shave with for a honing, you will then have something to compare your honing skills to. Once it comes back, try out the tests like hanging hair and arm hair. Then *carefully* touch the edge and see how it feels, especially that "tickle" as jockeys correctly describes it.

Then pick up a bargain from the classifieds or eBay and make sure its dull. Then practice your honing on that one rather than the one you will be shaving with, and hone that one up to shave ready, such that it is comparable to the one you sent out for honing. That way, you can learn shaving, lathering, stropping, and good technique, as well as honing. And any honing errors and that sort of thing wont hurt your shaves.

Good luck and welcome to SRP!

I will send out my razor to get honed. I agree with everything you are saying, I suppose I am just trying to finagle a name out of someone in the area who can teach me the skills one on one. I assume that's the best way to learn. Anyway, I will await the snail mail.