Thread: My first bevel setting - parts not making contact with hone

Magus,
Congradulations, you are finally on the right tract. You have reached a point, though, where there are differing opinions on what to do now. I will tell you what I do, and then maybe some others can chime in and give you some other recommendations.
When I am setting the bevel there are two processes that are actually going on. The first if the forming of the bevel itself. I try to make sure the bevel is as close to the same on both sides of the blade and will compensate in the number of laps per side to try and equal this out. The second process is, of course, the forming of the edge. These are two separate things and develop on their own. We can produce a perfect bevel on both sides, but have a wide edge that won't cut anything. Or we could produce a nice edge that cuts and have a lopsided bevel. So I pay attention to both of these. The test that I use while setting the bevel is also the TNT. When you wet your thumb nail and slowly run the edge of the blade across it, it should want to dig in and you should feel no bumps. I then very lightly, and very slowly continue to hone, and every 5 full strokes test and see if I can cut arm hair along the whole blade. If I do, then it is time to move on. From here out DO NOT do the TNT again. It will ruin your work.
You are now ready to start on either a pyramid or progressive lapping on the higher grit stones. You also need to be very honest with yourself here. If for any reason you feel the edge of your blade dig in on any of your strokes, you will need to step back one stone and start over again.

So far, it seems like you have made it past the most frustrating part. The rest will come easier now.

Good Luck

Ray

I was just thinking that maybe you might be interested in a little instruction on the next phase of this honing process. Please understand that this is just my personal way of doing this, and I am sure some others will add their method/s for you to consider. So here goes.

Now that you have the perfect bevel set with a relatively sharp edge, it is time to move on. I assume you will be using the typical 4/8k combination of something. So let's consider the edge you have now. It is capable of popping hairs along it's length but what kind of edge do we have. Well, I wouldn't want to shave with it because it would be awful rough, but why. The edge you have created in the bevel stage is alot like a saw blade with sharpened points. It cuts the hair because these points bite into the kerotin surrounding the hair and then easily cuts it off. What we need to do is refine those points and make the edge keener and smoother.

So how do we do that. We are going to make a series of passes on the next finer stones using one of two methods. The pyramid method or the progressive method. Some use one or the other and some use both. Either one works, and they both arrive at the same destination. It is strictly a matter of taste. I will however state that Lynn uses and recommends the pyramid process, because it is a proven method that works all the time.

The pyramid method uses two stones. Usually the 4k and 8k stones are used back and forth in the following order. The first number will be the laps on the 4k and the second will be the laps on the 8k.

Aggressive lapping:

15/15
10/10
5/5
3/3
1/3
1/5

Less Aggressive:

1/3
1/5
5/5
3/3
1/3
1/5

The combinations can be more or less. It's relly up to you. When you are done with the pyramid, do the TPT. Wet the thumb pad, or finger pad, and draw the blade across it with light pressure. The blade should feel like it is S M O O T H L Y digging in along the whole blade. If it is not, go back and do another pyramid until it does. When it does, you should be able to put the spine of the blade on your arm and tip the edge up about 1/4" and stroke the hair. If the hair pops off from all points on the blade, it is time to move on. If it doesn't go back to the pyramid again and re-test.

The progressive method is a little different and, I think, requires a little more experience to use. In this method you will go from the bevel setting directly to the 4k stone. Start lapping on the 4k stone until you successfully pass the TPT and can still pop hairs, at their base, along the whole length of the blade. Then you move to the 8k. Hone on this stone and about every 10 to 20 strokes test the edge. You don't need to do the TPT, but instead, try shaving some arm or leg hair. It shouldn't pop, but should just fall over. At that point you are ready to do the final finish.

Just as an aside, it is generally thought by most honesters here on the forum, that the shave test is the only test to use to tell if the razor is shave ready. I have to agree with this 100%. But I would also like to say that if your razor doesn't pass any one of the preliminary test leading up to the shave, and the shave seems just fine, Just think what it would feel like if it had passed all the tests. Don't cheat yourself out of the best shave you might experience. When I hone a razor, especially for someone else, I can guarantee that all the boxes are checked as passed for each test, TPT, TNT, HHT and Shave. I want to make sure nothing is taken for granted.

Good luck and keep at it.

Ray

Recently, I decided to put the honing of the problematic warped Dovo on hold, till I get better at honing in general and specifically at rollingX stroke.
In the meanwhile, I started my honing practice on some cheap Wapienica razors which I hunted for some time and finally won on auctions. I happen to get 3 of them, all NOS. One of them is from 1992 with SFK stamp (best quality, no visible faults) and two other are slightly larger ones but without any stamp: one from 1996 (with slightly loose working scales) and the last one from 1998 (with a small chip on the edge seen under the microscope - I'm almost done removing the chip but at 1K it's taking quite much time - spine is taped of course...) I guess the quality control wasn't manufacturer's best side but hey, what can I espect for 8$ each?
Right out of the box they were already covered with some funny smelling & thick engine-like grease!