Edge leading while honing?

[Gvanaken]

I have recently begin honing gouges and chisels for woodworking. They must be extremely sharp to be effective with wood, especially soft woods.

Well, I've gotten extremely good, (self-proclaimed of course), at sharpening these tools, and I was taught blade follows the stroke. You must build a burr and then "chase the burr", until you've progressed grit-wize through to the hone.

I was taught that a blade leading the stroke was only for the movies.

Can anyone shed some light on this issue?

thanks, George

 

[Slash McCoy]

With razors, edge leads when honing. Edge trails when stropping. The spine of the razor serves as your bevel guide. Some guys will do a few strokes on the finishing hone with the spine leading but this is not common I don't think.

Do you shave with a straight?

 

[jrp316]

The edge leads the stroke for honing razors. In honing a razor, you're not really building/chasing a burr as much as you're creating a bevel and then refining that bevel through a series of progressively higher grit hones. (A method of creating said bevel is to raise a burr on one side of the razor, then hone on the other side of the razor until that burr is gone and another one on that side is created). A razor's sharpness will far exceed that of most tools and as such, the edge that has the ability to cut hair easily is more refined and requires a degree of finesse to achieve.

Razor honing is a different technique than sharpening tools. Most hones/sharpening stones for tools don't run past 2000 or 4000 grit, for example. Ideally, a razor will be honed on at least 8000 grit prior to being a shave ready razor, with many people preferring grits up to and surpassing 12000 grit. Another example is the edge guide. Where a tool would require you to either set the angle of the edge by your own hand or some form of attached guide, a razor does this for you with the spine. The spine lays on the hone together with the edge and forms the bevel angle automatically.

 

[Gamma]

1/2 strokes are a combination of edge/spine leading - fairly common practice.
Old manuals discuss using spine leading on certain stones - and I believe Murray Carter opened up a can of worms when he aired his spine first stroke honing style.
If it works for ya - it works. There are no rules.
I hone edge leading. Works for me & I have no real reason to think that spine leading would be 'better' for me.

 

[Doc226]

I have read edge leading with razor because in theory the metal removed form the spine can mess up the edge as it travels on the stone. Not sure i believe it as most of us dont clean up the swarf as we hone.

 

[jrp316]

Many roads lead to Rome. It's ultimately up to you to pick the one that gets you there. If the method that you use gets your razor shaving to your satisfaction, then that's the right method. The razor neither knows nor cares how it's being honed, on what stone/media or by whom.

 

[jpcwon]

I have messed around with spine-leading circular strokes when finishing on coticule...I don't know if it made a difference or not, but the edge was nice so I guess it's worth playing around with if you're so inclined...

 

[Gvanaken]

Do you shave with a straight?

After I get the edge necessary to do so, my plan is to shave with a straight exclusively. I know that I'm in for some, (or many?), nicks, as there is a learning curve, but I am SO tired of the ridiculous prices that are charged for cartridges.

Society as a whole, has latched onto cartridge shaving, and the makers of the cartridges have taken advantage of the fact that they are now "needed".

I'm getting on in years, but I'm making a stand! I've got one cartridge left, plus one on the handle. My first straight should be ready by the time those are done.

I'll look however I look until I master it. "I've made up my mind and counted to three!"

Thanks for all the replies fellas. Happy shaves!

George

 

[buca3152]

Most of my honing is done using half strokes. If I do 25 half strokes on each side, then i will do 10 x strokes at the end of each set and grit. Even on a finisher. I do it on film also. I havent found a down side to this at all. Or is there one?

 

[Slash McCoy]

After I get the edge necessary to do so, my plan is to shave with a straight exclusively. I know that I'm in for some, (or many?), nicks, as there is a learning curve, but I am SO tired of the ridiculous prices that are charged for cartridges.

Society as a whole, has latched onto cartridge shaving, and the makers of the cartridges have taken advantage of the fact that they are now "needed".

I'm getting on in years, but I'm making a stand! I've got one cartridge left, plus one on the handle. My first straight should be ready by the time those are done.

I'll look however I look until I master it. "I've made up my mind and counted to three!"

Thanks for all the replies fellas. Happy shaves!

George

Well learning to hone and learning to shave on what you honed at the same time can be very frustrating. Best to get your shaving down pat before trying to hone your own razor. Sure it can be done but a lot of things can be done that you really don't want to do.

 

[Gvanaken]

Well, I might send one out. I keep reading that you should have at least one done by a pro.

Sage advice. Thank you.

George

 

[kirisute]

you might consider grabbing a shavette and some decent DE blades as well;
that way you can learn the basics of skin stretching; angle of the blade; how your beard grows and what direction to shave it most effectively etc without the urgent need to hone and strop your own straight edge.
for me moving from a shavette (parker sr1) to a straight edge was pretty much seemless...im still learning stropping and honing but I can shave with my straight edge happily enough with my current level of skill in such things. but I know if I do **** up then my shavette is ready for me to grab and use to finish up.
the cost is pretty marginal; in fact I would say you would get a parker shavette and blades for the cost of one packet of cartridges. and you will have them if you need to travel or fly and just don't have time for a full straight edge shave.

 

[Gamma]

Anything can be frustrating.
There's nothing inherently wrong with learning to hone and shave simultaneously.
Buy a honed blade, buy a beater to hone.

 

[Slash McCoy]

If you have several razors sure, send one out or more than one, and try your hand at honing one of the others. Learning to shave is a little more straightforward when you are confident of your edge. One less variable. One less doubt or question. Also you have a baseline of just what constitutes a shave ready edge.

The easiest initial honing project is touching up an edge that is only a little dulled from normal use. That would require only one stone or one grade of lapping film. very straightvorward and a reasonably high chance of success your first try.

 

[jrp316]

The easiest initial honing project is touching up an edge that is only a little dulled from normal use. That would require only one stone or one grade of lapping film. very straightvorward and a reasonably high chance of success your first try.

This. If you started with a shave ready razor and maintained it this way, you could potentially shave forever without having to rehone.