First try at honing

[Jfavre08]

So last night I tried my first attempt at honing. Started with an at bevel setting on a Naniwa 1k, then proceeded through 3k-5k-8k then to a natural coti for finishing. Initially it shaved a patch on my arm fine albeit a very small patch and didn't seem to shave along the whole blade. Tried a bit longer on the coti and I thought it had gotten better but no dice. Stropped and it shaved exactly almost nothing this morning lol. Honing is hard!

Looked under magnification this morning and it looks like I completely botched the bevel-set. Guess it's try number two tonight!

 

[David]

Stay on the 1k until you can easily shave arm hair like a really sharp pocket knife would do, then progress through the other stones. Most honing problems for people first starting out can be traced back to the bevel set.

 

[sfeile]

I agree with the staying on the 1K.
I have recently actually tried the cherry tomato/bevel test. I like it. If your bevel isn't set, you won't cut easily. You will slide off the side.
It also let's you see if you have a problem spot along the length of the blade. If you pay attention, you will get feedback in the form of a rough or smooth cut.

Once you get that thing cutting smoothly through the entire length, then move up to the 3K with light pressure and polish away the 1K scratches, and so on.
The bevel is where it is at. If you don't have it set correctly, you've got nothing. That was one of my biggest struggles when I first started.
The other was pressure. Not having good feeling in my hands, and being used to knives, I was using way too much pressure and doing more damage to my edge than sharpening. I was flexing it and not sharpening it.