Am I using my barber hone right?

[Luc]

All right, I searched the forum to find out how to use my barber hone. I read a few threads including Joel's thread (very helpful) on how to hone. I received the barber hone yesterday. My plan is to use it to keep the edge on my straights. That way, my straights won't spend a lot of time in the mail. I already have a few shave ready razors and I have a few that are not there (some will need a new bevel and others might need a touch-up or touch-up + a tiny bit more). I used one that (I think) needed a touch-up only.

I'm unsure of the grit on the barber hone but it's quite smooth. I can post a picture later if it helps but I don't have any inscriptions on it.

I tried to use it on one of the non-shave ready straights yesterday but I'm thinking it might need more than the little barber hone as I nearly did 200 laps on the stone in X pattern and it feels the same. It feels sharp but not enough (not as sharp as the shave ready razors).

Here's what I did, let me know if the technique is ok or if I'm killing the straight.

Procedure:

1. Fill bowl with cold water and soaked the hone for 15 minutes
2. Removed hone from bowl and lay flat on the table
3. Push the razor laying flat on the stone (edge+spine flat, edge first) in a X pattern
4. Turn the razor on the spine and proceeded with the other part of the X pattern

Pressure: I did apply a bit of pressure, not much, enough to make sure that the razor was flat on the stone.

X pattern vs. Non-X pattern: I saw someone on Youtube going in a straight line on the stone and then (after 10 laps) moving on the spine to do the other half of the blade. Is this technique correct or I should stick to the X pattern? I currently do that on the strop as I don't have a 3" strop (it's on the 'to-get' list). I find it easier even if it takes me twice the time.

To hold or not to hold: I tried honing while holding the stone in one hand and the razor in the other. Is this better for a barber hone or using a table is preferable?

I didn't feel that something changed at the end of my 200 laps. I guess it might be that the razor isn't nearly shave ready. I shaved with it once and it left me with patches and it didn't feel sharp enough. I'm able to shave some hair off my hand in 2-3 passes.

I'm thinking this might be like stropping. It doesn't feel like much but in the end, it's a lot!

Taking a non-shave ready to start honing is not a good idea, I know. As I'm not ready yet to hone a shave ready razor I want to get the technique right. I don't think I can do much harm honing a razor that's not shave ready with a barber hone.

I was expecting of seeing some gray-ish water on the stone but I guess the grit is too high.

Let me know if you have any comments, suggestions!

 

[mdunn]

if its thinner than the length of the blade then you definately need to go X pattern.

hold vs table is just preference, i go table just because its easier for me.

it wont do much at all to a non-shave ready razor.

also, have you lapped it?

 

[Luc]

Thanks Dunny.

No I didn't lap it. I see that it's been used quite a lot. I used a ruler and everything seems straight in every direction. If I don't have a second hone, how can I lap it?

 

[Leche]

Wet/Dry sandpaper. I used 220 then 500 on my Chinese 12K. Put the paper on glass with some water and went to town. Also with a barbers hone you shouldn't need to soak it, I think most use it dry or with a bit of lather.

 

[mdunn]

do a big grid and then some on it in pencil, then rub it on sandpaper untill its completely flat (no more pencil marks)

thats a point too, try putting a bit of lather on it instead of soaking

 

[Luc]

All right, will do and check back!

Thanks for the info!

 

[r0ckrat]

it wont do much at all to a non-shave ready razor.

I can second this one. It's more of a finishing hone than something that will bring back a blade from the dead. It's designed for maintenance of a shave ready razor, not putting a fresh edge on a long forgotten friend...

Great for a final step before stropping, though!

 

[Luc]

I know it won't bring the edge back but I thought it was closer to be shave ready than I thought... Anyways, part 2 tonight!

 

[Chimensch]

Barber hones don't need to be soaked in water before use. Just wet the surface and mix a little liquid soap or lather with the water to break the surface tension.

 

[Luc]

All right part 2 done.

I re-used my non-shave-ready-straight... Still feel the same so I guess I didn't break it!

I think I'm starting to understand this...

I hope one of my shave-ready will be blunt so I can try those rookie-skills!

 

[FTG]

I use my barber hone for touching up - maybe a dozen strokes each way, followed by stropping.

I just splash a bit of water on and rub on a little shaving soap or cream.
I found that putting the soap/cream on helps to hold the blade to the hone and keeps it slippery/wet.

Just water is ok - if just doing a few strokes, but I prefer the feel of the soapy surface.

I also hold the hone in my hand.

All the best,
Michael.

 

[persco]

When I first started trying to hone my own razors I made two big mistakes:

1. I thought the stone was flat. But it wasn't really. I would spend a long time honing my razor, but it never seemed to get any sharper. It didn't get duller, it just never "touched up" the way I thought it should. I had bought a glass lapping plate (like $10), some wet/dry sandpaper and went at it. I lapped my coticule bout and CH12K, and my Shapton 16K. I thought I spent enough time lapping them, but I hadn't (especially the CH12K, what a PITA). So I was using stones that were not flat enough. I got sick of going through sandpaper, so I bought a DMT 8C. And I methodically started over. Using pencil lines, etc. paying close attention. It worked. I noticed that the hones now made a difference to the razors. The problem was lapping.

2. The second big mistake: I kept trying to "sharpen" razors using finishing stones. I liked the coticules, CH12K, Shapton 16K, DMT 8EE, etc. But I never (stupidly) thought to purchase something at the lower grits. By the time my razors needed more than simple touch ups, I was spending a lot of time trying to refresh them by just "polishing" the edges. I didn't realize I wasn't actually sharpening anything. It was a real revelation when I bought lower grit Shaptons, lapped them using a DMT 8C. Now I understand what people mean when they talk about bevel-setting. I find sharpening stops after about 2K, polishing begins at 4K and up. I was afraid of ruining my razors by grinding them down too much. This meant I didn't spend enough time at the lower grit setting the edge properly. Laughable. It would take more time than I've got to actually grind a razor down so much I ruined it.


So in fact what I ended up doing was making a whole lot more work for myself, actually probably dulling a few of my razors before they should have been.

I was getting a bit demoralized, thinking I was missing something, not able to hone my own razors. Now that I've learned a bit more -- the hard way (but maybe the only way I can learn), I feel like I am progressing with my honing skills. I still suck, of course, but at least now I know it's only a matter of practice... I can get my edges to an acceptable shaving level, not what I get back from someone who really knows what they're doing, but at least I can shave without yanking hairs out of my face. And it's getting better every time.

s.

 

[Luc]

Thanks for the input everyone...

Stone is now flat and I'm waiting for the first blunt shave-not-anymore-ready to present itself...

 

[balaban9331]

i remember a long time ago when my dad introduced me to str8 shaving he told me sharpening a blade is alot like sanding wood.you can't get the grain of the wood to pop out at you by jumping from 60 to 220 grit.blades are the same.this was hard for me to accept at first because the edge was so fine,so delicate.i ended up buying a magnifying glass and checking the edge after every subsequent grit.you'd be surprised what the naked eye misses.

 

[chess1]

luc
please at first you need to know what you have?
is it dry barber hone?
or wet?
why you are soaking this hone?
etc. don't use it until you post picture of it. include name of it.

 

[Hughies_online]

The barbers hone should be used dry and in an X pattern

 

[Luc]

I don't have a brand by itself. It a small hone with 'Barber Hone' written on top. I will post a picture later.

I soaked it as I saw in the tutorial that a hone had to be soaked. I see it seems to be different for a barber hone...

 

[mparker762]

I soaked it as I saw in the tutorial that a hone had to be soaked. I see it seems to be different for a barber hone...

There are only a few hones that need to be soaked, but one of these - the Norton 4k/8k, is an extremely popular hone. More of them need to be wetted or at least can be profitably used this way - the coticule, nakayama, shaptons, barber hones, arkansas hones.

 

[Cutter]

When I first started trying to hone my own razors I made two big mistakes:

1. I thought the stone was flat. But it wasn't really. I would spend a long time honing my razor, but it never seemed to get any sharper. It didn't get duller, it just never "touched up" the way I thought it should. I had bought a glass lapping plate (like $10), some wet/dry sandpaper and went at it. I lapped my coticule bout and CH12K, and my Shapton 16K. I thought I spent enough time lapping them, but I hadn't (especially the CH12K, what a PITA). So I was using stones that were not flat enough. I got sick of going through sandpaper, so I bought a DMT 8C. And I methodically started over. Using pencil lines, etc. paying close attention. It worked. I noticed that the hones now made a difference to the razors. The problem was lapping.

2. The second big mistake: I kept trying to "sharpen" razors using finishing stones. I liked the coticules, CH12K, Shapton 16K, DMT 8EE, etc. But I never (stupidly) thought to purchase something at the lower grits. By the time my razors needed more than simple touch ups, I was spending a lot of time trying to refresh them by just "polishing" the edges. I didn't realize I wasn't actually sharpening anything. It was a real revelation when I bought lower grit Shaptons, lapped them using a DMT 8C. Now I understand what people mean when they talk about bevel-setting. I find sharpening stops after about 2K, polishing begins at 4K and up. I was afraid of ruining my razors by grinding them down too much. This meant I didn't spend enough time at the lower grit setting the edge properly. Laughable. It would take more time than I've got to actually grind a razor down so much I ruined it.


So in fact what I ended up doing was making a whole lot more work for myself, actually probably dulling a few of my razors before they should have been.

I was getting a bit demoralized, thinking I was missing something, not able to hone my own razors. Now that I've learned a bit more -- the hard way (but maybe the only way I can learn), I feel like I am progressing with my honing skills. I still suck, of course, but at least now I know it's only a matter of practice... I can get my edges to an acceptable shaving level, not what I get back from someone who really knows what they're doing, but at least I can shave without yanking hairs out of my face. And it's getting better every time.

s.

Thank you Scott. You just explained to me what my problem has been.

 

[Luc]

All right, I know, it took a while but here are the pictures of the barber hone.

Lapped on both side, I use the back side since it doesn't have as much chips.

I had to use a 220 grit sandpaper to lap it. 400 wasn't quick enough. It took a good hour to lap it, lot of dust!