Comprehensive Guide to Basic to Intermediate Honing

[jonnymy]

ok, so they were shaving you fine at some point?
you did get the wrong hone then, you wanted the 4000/8000.
the set that you have will be very tricky to get a shaving edge off, so yes i'd say you'd like to get a norton 4000 as well.
i would suggest once you have good bevel to proceed with pyramids - read mparker's recent posts in the recent pyramid thread if you want even further perspective on why your chances for success are better that way.

there's not all that much to honing. i like alan's perspective on it - only two things to learn
(1) a light and consistent stroke.
(2) when to switch hones.

thanks for all the advice guys, maybe I was a bit vague at first, after the 1K produced a blade sharp enough to take a couple of moistened soft arm hairs off I assumed (wrongly) I could jump to the 8K. (Run before walking here I think). I'll have to get the intermediate stone. Seeing as I have a 1K/8K combo already, and as a newbie do you recommend 4K or 6K

 

[slippy]

jonnymy, I think a lot of folks have great success with a 5000K Naniwa superstone. You might consider picking one of those hones up as your middle stone.

 

[jonnymy]

Thanks to everyone! Got a 4K and last night had a Eureka moment when the blade (almost) matched my usual DE dovo progress/Feather blade combo. The advice in these forums is invaluable. Thanks again now the only problem is to stop myself becoming obsessive and overhoning my blades!!!

 

[gugi]

jonnymy, I think a lot of folks have great success with a 5000K Naniwa superstone. You might consider picking one of those hones up as your middle stone.

Considering that he has a Norton 1000/8000 I don't think it's a good idea to get a different brand for in between. It may work, but how are you going to troubleshoot it when it doesn't work?
The best for new honers is to stick to something standard, there is always plenty of time to experiment once one is proficient with the basics.

 

[netsurfr]

Very well done. Thanks for taking the time to write this down. Gives a handy reference that new folks can be pointed to instead of giving partial answers over and over again.