After several attempts with the naniwa progression and the coticule, I finally put a good edge on a razor and had an awesome, comfortable 4 pass shave. Used the coticule from slurry, to finishing under running water. Was shocked it shaved so well since it wouldn’t pass a HHT. It really is satisfying getting a good shave with your own edge.
Finally got a good edge
- Thread starter 03Jarhead
- Start date
Congrats, on the right of passage. Keep at it, it only gets better from there.
Well done! Isn't it most satisfying to have a great shave off an edge you did! It took me a few months of near daily honing to get my coticule to sing. Take notes, it certainly helps.
Congrats! I will second @Bounder about keeping notes - really helpful.
Once you get that first one down, look out !
It took me a long while to crack the code.
Congrats !
It took me a long while to crack the code.
Congrats !
Congratulations on your first good edge. Many more to come I’m sure.
It only gets better from here out.
- Thread starter
- #8
Honed a German Heartring today. Started with a Naniwa 8k, moved to the 12k and finished on the Vermont green slate. I’m really digging the edge the green slate produces!
timwcic
"Look what I found"
Glad it working out and coming together. Vermont green is a underrated hone. Always looking out for green roof or landscape slates to play with. Hard to find in Florida. Roof slates hurt when they blow off in hurricanes. Don’t rely on a HHT test, many variables to be 100%. The true test, hone-lather-shave-repeat
Congrats!
I also got my first very good edge from a Japanese natural this week, my very first natural stone. I have been honing for years but always with synthetics, film and pasted balsa. Grabbed a Jnat a month or so ago (thanks Steve!) and have been working with it on and off since then. Some lousy edges, some terrible edges and even a 'no edge' on a new T.I. but that blade was and is quite challenging due to geometry. My first shaving edge was done fairly quickly on a like- new Red Imp, one of my favorite razors. Good enough to go atg comfortably and it cut well. Just picked up a NOS (new old- stock) Solingen razor that really does appear to be a Red Imp blank and honed it in a pretty short time to an even better edge than the Red Imp. Very satisfying to get a workable edge on a hard, natural stone and very different than honing on film. Still shooting for an Alfredo level edge but I assume that will be down the road a bit.
Glad to hear that you like the Vermont slate hone. I have been thinking about grabbing one and your experience with one will kick me over the edge I think. They are large and reasonable in price so it is not much of a risk.
I also got my first very good edge from a Japanese natural this week, my very first natural stone. I have been honing for years but always with synthetics, film and pasted balsa. Grabbed a Jnat a month or so ago (thanks Steve!) and have been working with it on and off since then. Some lousy edges, some terrible edges and even a 'no edge' on a new T.I. but that blade was and is quite challenging due to geometry. My first shaving edge was done fairly quickly on a like- new Red Imp, one of my favorite razors. Good enough to go atg comfortably and it cut well. Just picked up a NOS (new old- stock) Solingen razor that really does appear to be a Red Imp blank and honed it in a pretty short time to an even better edge than the Red Imp. Very satisfying to get a workable edge on a hard, natural stone and very different than honing on film. Still shooting for an Alfredo level edge but I assume that will be down the road a bit.
Glad to hear that you like the Vermont slate hone. I have been thinking about grabbing one and your experience with one will kick me over the edge I think. They are large and reasonable in price so it is not much of a risk.
Honing a great edge on a rock was a bucket list event for me.
The fact that you can do this with just a piece of steel and a stone still blows my mind!
@BDF, do you keep a honing diary/log? It can be really helpful. I try to capture what I did (including what I used and any use of tape) and something about the results.
No, I prefer to keep making the same mistakes over and over or so it seems. 
No doubt a log would be good idea though. It does seem though that I have had one big technique failure for a long time- no torque applied to the razor against the hone. That results in a lot of spine wear but little actual edge material removal leading to a very precise and polished bevel that does not quite come to a point. Setting the bevel still works OK but the final honing grits just do not make it to the edge. After using some torque, the entire bevel rides across the hone and the razor pushes water or slurry in front of it very well and is refined by all stages of honing. Unfortunately there are few, if any metrics in razor honing and a lot of terms that cannot be defined or duplicated such as 'no pressure' and so forth. Not that those trying to teach others are doing anything wrong, just that it is hard to read about or see videos on honing and pick up the nuances that the teaching person is giving.
Now the next person reading this may well interpret it to mean really bearing down on the edge and thereby preventing any possibility of success. So in trying to put a learnable amount to this thought, start out with little to no torque and gradually increase it until the edge undercuts the water or slurry. Things like that can perhaps help but it still is not defined in any replicable way. <shrugs shoulders>
No doubt a log would be good idea though. It does seem though that I have had one big technique failure for a long time- no torque applied to the razor against the hone. That results in a lot of spine wear but little actual edge material removal leading to a very precise and polished bevel that does not quite come to a point. Setting the bevel still works OK but the final honing grits just do not make it to the edge. After using some torque, the entire bevel rides across the hone and the razor pushes water or slurry in front of it very well and is refined by all stages of honing. Unfortunately there are few, if any metrics in razor honing and a lot of terms that cannot be defined or duplicated such as 'no pressure' and so forth. Not that those trying to teach others are doing anything wrong, just that it is hard to read about or see videos on honing and pick up the nuances that the teaching person is giving.Now the next person reading this may well interpret it to mean really bearing down on the edge and thereby preventing any possibility of success. So in trying to put a learnable amount to this thought, start out with little to no torque and gradually increase it until the edge undercuts the water or slurry. Things like that can perhaps help but it still is not defined in any replicable way. <shrugs shoulders>
- Thread starter
- #15
I bought a Torrey from eBay and it had a smile to the edge, albeit a slight one, however it’s still there. I’ve been trying the rolling x strokes and under a loupe it looks like I’ve honed the entire edge and it’s tree topping hairs, but fails HHT. I’ll see how it shaves tomorrow.
FWIW, I only use the HHT after stropping the blade.
No, I prefer to keep making the same mistakes over and over or so it seems.
Now the next person reading this may well interpret it to mean really bearing down on the edge and thereby preventing any possibility of success. So in trying to put a learnable amount to this thought, start out with little to no torque and gradually increase it until the edge undercuts the water or slurry. Things like that can perhaps help but it still is not defined in any replicable way. <shrugs shoulders>
The need to apply torque was a light bulb moment for me too. There is no single secret to setting bevels and honing. Every razor is different and there are lots of small problems to solve. That said, there are a bunch of basic principles, and what you said about applying torque is one of them. Congrats on your discovery!
