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Bevel Setting

I know there will be a ton of different answers for this but wish to gain a consensus.

what is your preferred medium for setting a bevel????......and if it has a grit reading or measurement please state.

thanks

camo
 
DMT F/EF duosharp. Some amazon vendor used to sell 8x3" version with the bench for ~$70. I've set thousands of bevels on it, maybe tens of thousands.


This is my second. I sold my first and replaced it with this one because mine was second gen (which had an uninterrupted patch). I didn't like having that patch there so I replaced it with the first gen without it. Had the first one 3 years I'd guess, this one maybe 8? And I got this one used but in good shape.

Grit are 600/1200 (25/9 micron)
 

Slash McCoy

I freehand dog rockets
Depends. I just did I think 23 Gold Dollars on a 120 grit Shapton Ceramic. Next I will go 320 grit and 600 grit, then either switch to film or go to the Naniwa progression starting with 1k. Now you could say that everything under 1k grit was more in the repair category than the bevel setting category. But the fact is, the bevel is practically set, because incidental to straightening out the razor in general, a burr was raised along very nearly the entire edge. Sometimes you have to break out the big guns if you want to gitter done and there is a lot of steel to come off. Sometimes, not. Sometimes my bevel setter is 9u lapping film or a 3k Naniwa or 2k sandpaper. Speaking of which, I usually use sandpaper for the heavy lifting, not coarse stones. I lapped before doing those GDs, and there is a visible, obvious dish in the stone now. The next stage will mostly just be removing 120 grit scratches and so there won't be nearly as much wear on the 320. Or the 600. By the time I am at 1k or 15u or whatever, the amount of wear will be much more normal.

I have been known to clamp a belt sander upside down in my bench vise with a 60 grit belt, when doing a batch of GDs. Just sayin. Use what you gotta use. Go fine and easy when you can. Take a GD66 or a Dovo Best to a 1k Bear Moo and see how many laps it takes to ACTUALLY get a good bevel set. Go ahead. Oh well I just did 100 laps on my 1k bevel setter, so I know it's gotta be set by now. LOL! Doesn't work that way. It's done when it's done. If the hone isn't strong enough for the level of work to be done, it is not gonna be a 15 minute job. Maybe not a 15 hour job. Most guys give in to the urge to just "be" done with it, and silently, shamefully, move up to their 4k whatever, knowing that they have just set themselves up for failure, but ignoring it. OTOH, you have to remember that every stage of honing leaves a certain depth of scratches, and the next stage has to remove them all, every one, to the bottom, replacing them with it's own new scratch pattern. And so, even if you only do 10 laps on say 60 grit, you still have to go and go on the next stage to remove the scratches. No way around that. So you bump up to 120. 220. 320. 600. 1k. The steel has to come off. Now if the edge was such that the 60 grit was needed, sure, you could have used 1k. Compared to a well managed progression to 1k, starting with the 1k would have taken a lot longer and still worn off almost as much steel. The trick is the management, starting with the coarsest grit, going until the bevel is ALMOST complete, so that the cumulative scratch removal is completed at the 1k or 2k level which coincides with having a nicely developed bevel on the whole edge.

Throw a "shave ready" razor at me, and it's a different story. I might cut in at 2k or 3k or so, because the edge is pretty much there and I am just honing cause just because. I like to have what I know for a fact is a complete, very flat, and well polished bevel before breaking out the magic balsa. But the bevel setting is more a matter of verifying with a good flat hone that the bevel is satisfactory, than making it so.

The popularly accepted and acclaimed grit for a bevel setter is 1k. The best grit to use is more often than not, something different, either finer or coarser. Or just call your 1k your bevel setter and consider coarser work to be edge repair.
 
Slash said:
Or just call your 1k your bevel setter and consider coarser work to be edge repair.

Pretty much this. Anything coarser than 600, I'm fixing geometry. I'm not setting a bevel, I'm removing chips or grinding out a shoulder. While I CAN take it to a bevel on the 120 or whatever right after... that's ancillary. The purpose of that hone was grinding, not beveling. I don't think I'd ever elect to use something coarser than 600 grit for a razor that didn't need grinding done.

That said, my 600 can do any grinding I need on razors... I just prefer to use carbos, the feedback of digging into a coarse carborundum feels better than just grinding away on diamonds... even if it isn't much faster. But that's a whole other discussion. And I'm not going to pretend I'm above breaking out the belt sander to tackle an annoying Gold Dollar-esque shoulder now and then, either.
 
I will testify that I shaved on a @SliceOfLife edge yesterday. (Zebra Brand.) It was good (strop and go) when I received it. I have only stropped (diamond pasted balsa and leather) to maintain it. I was checking it yesterday before I pass it on to @Flintstone65 , who is just starting out out with SRs.

I will also say that his advice is clear and realistic rather than idealistic. I have profited by it. I appreciate any honemeister who adds clarity rather than mystifies honing.

I also shave tested a @steveclarkus Gold Dollar edge yesterday, which was also shaving fine and is headed to Fred. I imagine it is an entirely Method edge.

There haven’t been any bad replies to this thread, but clearly there is no consensus hone (or even a single definition) for bevel setting. I guess if I’m using a hone rated in the 800 to 1200 range I can call what I'm doing bevel setting.

Getting a ground blank started towards being a razor (Gold Dollar) is different from restoring an old 1/4 or 1/2 grind and completely different from restoring an extra hollow. When I’m done at 1k I don’t expect the razor to shave lathered whiskers, just to feel and look ready for the next step. When I’m past 8k I call it ‘finishing’.
 

steveclarkus

Goose Poop Connoisseur
I will testify that I shaved on a @SliceOfLife edge yesterday. (Zebra Brand.) It was good (strop and go) when I received it. I have only stropped (diamond pasted balsa and leather) to maintain it. I was checking it yesterday before I pass it on to @Flintstone65 , who is just starting out out with SRs.

I will also say that his advice is clear and realistic rather than idealistic. I have profited by it. I appreciate any honemeister who adds clarity rather than mystifies honing.

I also shave tested a @steveclarkus Gold Dollar edge yesterday, which was also shaving fine and is headed to Fred. I imagine it is an entirely Method edge.

There haven’t been any bad replies to this thread, but clearly there is no consensus hone (or even a single definition) for bevel setting. I guess if I’m using a hone rated in the 800 to 1200 range I can call what I'm doing bevel setting.

Getting a ground blank started towards being a razor (Gold Dollar) is different from restoring an old 1/4 or 1/2 grind and completely different from restoring an extra hollow. When I’m done at 1k I don’t expect the razor to shave lathered whiskers, just to feel and look ready for the next step. When I’m past 8k I call it ‘finishing’.
Yes the Gold Dollar was a pure Method edge. It seems to be getting around. If I were honing as a hobby, I would
most likely take the naturals route as I do not like synthetic stones at all. Much prefer film. I think naturals are fascinating but I just don’t want the cost or climbing up another learning curve now. Perhaps
after I move and get resettled I’ll perhaps get with@SliceOfLife for a decent finisher and give it a try. I find a well done 1u edge to be perfectly fine and pasted balsa as tinsel on the tree. Edges are like brushes and soaps. Different people prefer or are simply satisfied with different ones I suppose. My interest is simply focused on the shave itself. Also, anything past 8k is definitely polishing.
 
I'm trying to remember what edge was on the zebra. I sent him three razors at once and put a different edge on each, so probably it was coticule, Thuri and PDSO, or maybe Thuri, PDSO and apache.


I want to say that one had a coti or apache finish. I think the spike was PDSO, and the Blue steel was Thuri.
 
To actually answer the question, at present I have an Ultra Sharp 8x3 1200 continuous diamond plate, 3M 30u lapping film I cut in strips and use on 7/8” thick cast acrylic, and a WoodRiver 10” 1200 interrupted diamond plate.
 

David

B&B’s Champion Corn Shucker
My preferred razor bevel setter has been the chosera 1k. I’ve had it for 8 years and it has worked well for me. It’s nearing the end of its life (getting thin) and I most likely replace it with the shapton pro 1.5K mainly just because I want to try something new. I’ll say this, don’t go cheap on your bevel setter. Most people are willing to pay big money for a finisher but want to use a cheap stone to set the bevels. The bevel is the edge so keep that in mind while you’re shopping around
 
I'm trying to remember what edge was on the zebra. I sent him three razors at once and put a different edge on each, so probably it was coticule, Thuri and PDSO, or maybe Thuri, PDSO and apache.

I want to say that one had a coti or apache finish. I think the spike was PDSO, and the Blue steel was Thuri.

And thanks again! The Spike and the Blue Steel are proud members of my American rotation/set. I am sharing your generosity with Fred by parting with the Zebra. And I’m continuing to move forward on my honing.
 
Very cool. Glad they're getting used. That's the shame of a collection the size of mine. I'll go a couple years then come across a razor I forgot about and be like... wow, I haven't used this razor in so long.

Problem is I keep trying to trim it, but I keep buying lots for brushes or stones and they come with more razors. Somehow the collection keeps growing.
 
Very cool. Glad they're getting used. That's the shame of a collection the size of mine. I'll go a couple years then come across a razor I forgot about and be like... wow, I haven't used this razor in so long.

Problem is I keep trying to trim it, but I keep buying lots for brushes or stones and they come with more razors. Somehow the collection keeps growing.

Preaching to the choir! :001_rolle So many straight razors. So many kinds of straight razors. And they all need a home.

At least I’m behind you on the curve. And enjoying myself all the way. Plus I’m sure @camoloc knows what he’s getting into.
 
I use the less expensive ($30) Naniwa 1000. Its called the Natural stone, as opposed to the Super stone.

I abuse it pretty good and also do some repair work on it, like removing small chips. If I mess it up too much, I’ll just get a new one at that price.

But, I’m a hobbiest and not a pro.

Naniwa Natural Stones
 
1K Chosera if the blade has no issues. Any chips or salsa along the edge (OK, pitting... chips and salsa just sounded good right there...) and I will go to a DMT 320 for rough ones, or Atoma 400 diamond plate for the less rough until the chips are gone, then off to the 1K.
 
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